


Hariel Potter and Son of a Black

by astachan14



Category: DCU (Comics), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Borrowed Characters from other Fandoms, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Crossover, Gen, Magic, No other DC characters besides Tim, Not A Fix-It, The story is taking place in Wizarding World, Tim is Leo, Tim is here to screw with canon, Tim is reincarnated in Wizarding World, Worldbuilding, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-15
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-01-29 08:47:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 167,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21407440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astachan14/pseuds/astachan14
Summary: After a mistake made by Higher power, Tim Drake; also known within the Heroes community as Red Robin, died an untimely death. To fix this mistake, they offered him a chance at new life—in a new world. However, the offer also came with a job—To help this new world’s hero; Hariel Potter, succeed in her quest to vanquish the Dark Lord.Reborn as a son of Sirius Black, how the forcefully-retired sidekick deal with Magical World. Will the canon survive intact?Warning: FemHarry, Crossover.
Relationships: Harry Potter & Tim Drake, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 54
Kudos: 187





	1. Years Before Part??

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N ::** Here’s a long author’s note. But it’s necessary. So, please bear with me.
> 
> This story started out after I’ve read a nice little one shot called The Warrior & The Wolf by worldtravellingfly, which is actually a HP/Naruto crossover. I was intrigued with the idea of Sirius having a son instead of a daughter. I’ve read several stories with Sirius’s daughter already, and still addicting to it. Combined with the fact that I love Tim Drake and there weren’t too many HP/DC crossover that focus on Tim. But I’ve to say this here, it’s been a while since I’ve written Tim. Hopefully, I don’t do bad job.
> 
> I’ve moved the Timeline of Harry Potter canon up about two decades; A female Harry; Hariel Potter was born on 31st July 2000, instead of 1980. The attack on Godric’s Hollow happened on Halloween 2001. Hariel’s 1st year started in 2011.  
For Tim, following the story of Red Robin Comics; at the start of Hit List Arch, after Bruce Wayne’s return from being stranded in time, but before the return of Superboy. I hadn’t read these comics for a while (years even) so the events might not be in this order, but for the sake of the story, just go with it. It won’t impact story that much but I’m just letting you know for the sake of background purpose.
> 
> And yes, this is a Female Harry story. If you don’t like Female Harry Trope, then this is where you stop. But if you don’t mind and want to give this story a try, please enjoy the journey with me!
> 
> This fic is also cross-posted at FF.net.

**Chapter 1 :: Year Before Part??  
Something Ends, Something Begins.**

Of all the things Tim Drake—or as many had called him Red Robin; had planned on his checklist, _dying_ was definitely not one of them.

Sure, he knew he wasn't invincible. Even Superman who was one of the strongest, most invulnerable men—or if you wanted to be technical; alien he'd ever known, still had a weakness. And Tim was, after all, only human.

His body was strong; honed through years of intense training by the Batman, but his flesh still squishy and vulnerable to many weapons; bullets, knife, burn, explosion, etc.… Body armors had helped but like all of its kind, it still only protected only 70% of the overall damage, even if it was a product of Wayne Tech. It was why everyone in the Bat-family switched out their suits quarterly, sometimes earlier if they had been taking a lot of beating. Alfred always made sure to remind them.

The last thing he remembered was finally reunited with his surrogated father and mentor, Bruce Wayne, who had been stranded in time. No one had believed Tim at first. They'd all said Tim was being in denial of Bruce's death. Dick, Alfred, even Cassie who had been through the Death of Kon together; none had believed him. Well, not at first. Not until the JLA had started to listen.

It was a long road and not at all an easy journey. He had lost his spleen, got blown up and got shot at more than he'd have liked, all for the quest to prove his theory for heaven's sake! But in the end, it was all worth it. Bruce was back, cured of Omega Radiation. And even though Tim was no longer held the mantle of Robin, he was Red Robin now. An Identity forged only for himself, just like Dick had done with Nightwing.

It was going to be a new start. For many of them, until it wasn't.

His trusty grappling hook failed, the cable snapped midair with no one to help him, Red Robin plummeted to his death. He didn't even have time to feel the pain of being splattered on the ground. The next thing he knew he was standing in Bruce's empty Batcave. He called out for Bruce and Alfred but there was no response. His instinct kicked in, had hands grabbed for his battle staff, only to find it was gone along with his suit and utility belt, in fact, he only wore a simple Gotham Knights hoodie, a pair of faded jeans and sneakers.

"Oh my, it seems I've made a mistake." An unfamiliar voice came from behind, Time spun on his heels, turning around to see a pale woman dressed in all black. Her face painted in Goth style complimenting her clothing, she scowled at him.

Tim's spine went ramrod, the woman might not look like much of a threat but something about her made his instinct kicked into overdrive. He was about opened his mouth and asked a question when another voice floated over. "Sister, that's not Bruce Wayne."

The newcomer was a tall man wearing a ratty old robe, in his hands a large book. The hood had covered over half of his face, showing only his mouth. From what Tim had observed, the man was middle age, his chin scruffy with several days-old stubbles. The man seemed to glide rather than walk as he came closer to the two of them.

"Well, how should I know! They're all look alike!" The woman crossed her arms and shrugged. "Just use him, they're almost the same, really!"

"Yes, but the mission is going to take much longer!" The man frantically said. "You know that this matter needs delicate handling!"

Both had ignored him as they argued, Tim edged closer to the racks of batarangs nearby, his equipment might be gone but this was the Batcave, there always weapons lying around; Bruce had never made it child-proof after all. His hand finally made a grab for one of the throwing weapons, only for his hand to phase through. He blinked before trying again, his hand went through once more. Panic started to spread through, Tim took a deep breath to calm himself down before he glanced over at the two strangers still squabbling, he kept one ear to their conversation as he moved toward the bat-computer, there was a panic button Bruce had built there that would send a signal to both the JLA alert as well as Bruce's own communicator.

As far as he knew, he might have been transported, instead of being dead, hopefully. The two intruders had wanted Bruce instead of him, a case of mistaken identity possibly, but for what purpose? That what he's waiting to find out.

"Well, it's your fault in the first place the child was born a girl instead of a boy! Again!" The Goth woman huffed. "Do you want to use that Dragon Prince, instead? I still have his soul after all."

"No, that boy is too unstable literally. And don't forget his fascination with dragons!" The man rejected. "All the mission will all be thrown out the window if that boy caught even a glimpse of those creatures!"

"Hmm…true. He probably forgets all about the task as soon as he learned about the dragons. How about that Slayer? The blond one, what's her name?"

"Her? No, definitely _not_. Aside from the fact, that she's the main character—which disqualified her. The girl will no doubt, wreck everything around her just like she did everything else. Despite her successful records, the collateral damage cost just as high. We wanted the world saved, not half wrecked!"

Once the button was within his reach, Tim slammed his hand on it but just like the last time had been, his hand just phased through the object. Tim stared down at his hand before looking around at his surrounding, the Batcave still looked just like the last time he was here, sans any of his immediate family members, of course.

Was this an illusion then? No…most illusion he had been subjected to was mostly tangible, some he could even touch. Tim glanced over at the two strangers again and saw the woman threw herself on the seat in front of Bat-computer. His eyes narrowed, she might have been the caster then, because she could still touch the seat instead of went through like Tim had.

The two of them still hadn't paid any attention to him. The woman twirled in the seat as she said. "Right. Got it!….Hey, how about that fluffy kid? I always like him. He's got guts changing the underworld after all."

The man shook his head again. "Again, the main character, and like most main characters; they always made it about themselves, some of them unintentionally. Besides, the keeper of balance wouldn't let the goal of his soul, he has to be recorded in that ring, remember?"

"And you'd thought that _Bruce Wayne_; the Batman wouldn't do just exactly that? You know what kind of man he is! A control-freak that one! Besides, the man is too old for what you've had in mind." The woman snorted. Tim almost did as well before he realized that these two might have known Batman's real identity!

Before the two continued their conversation, Tim had enough. He cleared his throat, aloud, finally pulling their attention to him. "I'm sorry to interrupt but who are you two and how did you get in the Batcave?"

The two strangers paused and turned toward him. The goth woman blinked owlishly at him. "We're are where?"

Tim scowled. "The Batcave."

The woman looked around her while rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Ah, hmm…I guess it makes sense that you would see that place."

"You mean, we're really not at the Batcave then? So, it really is an illusion." Tim paused and stared at the woman. "Why do you hold me—? No, that's not it. You wanted the Batman to be caught in it, didn't you? Why do you cast this illusion, to begin with? If you need his help, all you have to do is ask."

"Technically, we didn't cast it. Your brain conjured up a place that holds significant meaning to you. For example, if it were your other brother, Dick Grayson…this place might have been the circus instead." The man replied calmly. "as for asking for the Batman's help….well that is not something any living could do."

Tim stared at the two strangers. "Are you implying that I am….what?….dead?"

"No, that's me. I am Death." The goth woman grinned.

The other, however, didn't find her pun amusing. "Please, forgive my sister for her poor timing joke. But yes. At this moment in your world, Tim Drake or Red Robin, as you called yourself, had died."

"As in dead-dead and not dead-but instead stranded in time?" Tim asked hopefully.

The cloaked man shook his head. "I'm afraid not. You are indeed, very dead."

Tim scowled at the two strangers. "Am I supposed to believe that Death is a woman likes to dress in goth clothes and makeup? Wasn't that a little….. too cliché?"

'Death' rolled her eyes. "I'm not a woman, not really. This world just had a very weird way of interpreting my existent. In others, I could appear as a handsome man wearing expensive three pieces suit, an old man wearing raggedy cloth. Or, my favorite! A skeleton in a black flowing robe!"

The man sighed deeply. Tim glanced at him with a questioning look. "If you must know, I am called Destiny. You may or may not believe about what we are but that doesn't make it any less true."

"You really should thank me, you know. Your overall fate is subjected to change in a few years, anyway." The woman cut in before Tim could say anything further as she twirled the seat again. "I just accelerate the timing a bit."

Tim stared at her. "…..I beg your pardon?"

"Oh, don't worry. It's not just you. The whole universe is going to be rebooted. Even us. But we're more of a concept than an actual person; our personalities are always changing. Your existent will continue after convergence, well…it won't be the same you anymore. It will be a new you, a new Tim Drake. Or something like that. The same can't be said about some of your contemporaries, however. A few of them just cease to exist." The woman called herself Death shrugged nonchalantly as if they'd been talking about today's weather.

"I….what?"

"Here's the thing, kiddo. This is not the first time someone messed with the Timeline, and believe me, it won't be the last either." She said without looking at him, instead twirled the seat again. "This time, though. Well, if you really want to point a finger, it'd be that speedster."

Tim almost heard a crack in his brain. Was all these just something happening inside his head? Maybe he had been in a coma and been having a nightmare all along. Tim rubbed the temple of his head, well, at least his hand didn't pass through himself this time!

"Fine. Let's say, I'm really dead—" Tim finally said.

"Oh, as a doornail, I assured you." Death cut in.

"—And I know you'd wanted Batman here, instead of me. Then, why am I still here?" Tim finished; his blue eyes narrowed at the two in front of him.

The cloaked man still said nothing, but Tim could see that he had glanced over to the woman. Death sprung herself from the Bat-computer's seat, crossing one arm while pointing the other at him. "You're here because I did the wrong guy in."

"I figured that out already." Tim gritted his teeth.

"Well, good!" Death clapped her hands. "I knew you're smart!" She turned to the man. "See, Destiny! This boy's not so bad! He could still do the job!"

The man's mouth turned down in a grimace. He then opened the large book in his hands, as if looking for the page he'd wanted, when he finally did, the man spoke once more. "Very well. Here we have, Tim Drake. A crime-fighting vigilante. Technically an orphan. Not the main character, not really—"

Tim's mouth twitched at the man's words.

"—his credentials are impressive for a supporting character. Genius level intellect, martial arts, stealth, gadgetry, multilingual, tactical analysis, investigation." The man prattled on; Tim felt his face heated up as his abilities being summarized out loud.

"See, see! I told you so!" Death nodded along. But Destiny held his hand up, halting them.

"He still lacks one crucial thing." The man declared. "He doesn't have magic."

What? Of course not! He wasn't a Homo Magus like Zatanna, he's just a regular human!

But Death was undeterred. "It won't really matter anyway, right? The magic is more spread out and powerful over there. If you really want to make sure, just stick his soul into a body that belongs to a strong magical bloodline. Besides, this way it will give him some credits to his name, better than have him as a muggle-born."

"Hmm…that could work. Let me see then…." Destiny nodded and flipped the pages of his large book again.

"Wait!" Tim called out. "Before you decided to stick me anywhere, why don't you tell me about what exactly is this job you wanted the Batman—well, I guess it's me in this case—doing?"

The man didn't answer but he waved his free hand, gesturing for his companion as a go-ahead. The goth woman did a one-shoulder shrugged and turned to him.

"Well, we need someone, in this case—you, to guide our hero, helping and keeping her on her path, for her to fulfill her 'Destiny'" she ended it with an air quote hands.

Tim scowled, still didn't understand why it had anything to do with him or anyone else in that matter. "And, what is her _Destiny_?"

"Oh, you know the usual, defeat a dark lord, ascend to something higher, blah blah blah—" Death looked down at her painted nails. "We can't tell you all the details, yet. When you accept the job, we'll give you _some_ details. We can't just give you everything, that's too interfering."

"But why do you need someone for this job? Isn't it a Hero's journey to go through the trails in the first place?" Tim asked, trying to make sense of the things he had heard so far.

Death let out a long sigh. "Oh, the girl will definitely go through trails for sure. A lot of them, in fact. It's the end choice that worries us." She tapped her painted nails on her arms as if pausing for a moment to contemplate. "I believe you are familiar with the Multiverse?"

Tim blinked. "Yes, I do." After all, Kon's death was a result of one of them.

"Well, there exist worlds that magic spread far and wide, large enough to form communities within communities. In most worlds also exist the fixed points that supposed to happen. Nothing or anyone do, will not change it. But that's really not the important thing here." She shrugged again. "Let's just say, in this particular world, the child was supposed to be born a boy. Until someone—" She empathized with an obvious glare toward the cloaked man who still ignoring both of them. "—being careless, and now he is a she."

Tim narrowed his eyes. "Alright. But's what the real problem?"

"The real problem is—" Death started but was cut off before she could finish.

"—not for you to know." The cloaked man Death had called Destiny had finally turned his attention back to them.

"What he said." Death looked sheepish scratching her chin. "It's the usual of what you've already been doing. Helping the main character of the story reach the end goal."

"You want me to play a _sidekick_?" He asked, his face deadpan. And they'd wanted Batman for this job at first? That was never going to work!

"But are there anyone else doing the job?" Tim somehow doubted that the main character this important to several different parallel universes would have no one to help them at all.

"Well, _there is_ a circle of potential people to fill in that role." Death shrugged carelessly. "We just thought we should add our own into the mix. To help avoid disaster if the main character went off to the wrong path. We can't give you specific, though. There are rules about that, even ancient entities like us need to follow them."

"All you need to know is that there are…certain criteria that need to be filled by the girl in order for her to reach the desired result. You will be providing some of those." Destiny said, almost sagely.

"But how would I be able to guide her if I have no idea what they are?" Tim asked.

"You're talking as if you're accepting this job, Tim Drake." Destiny's said. It sounded like a statement, rather than a question.

Tim stared at the cloaked man with those practiced-glares he had perfected from Batman, which usually would leave the criminals quivering in their boots. This ancient entity, however, didn't even seem to be affected, at all. Tim grounded his molars, looking like an intimidating option was out. Next, negotiating.

"Let's say, I accept this…job." He said carefully. "What do I get out of it?"

"That's easy! You get to live your life." Death was the one to answer instead. "Well, not this life. I mean the new one! If you survived after everything, of course."

Destiny then added. "Besides the job of guiding and helping the girl. Teach her things, be her friend, her rival, her whatever. Marry her if you wanted. Or if you rather didn't, no need to keep in contact with her ever again after her role was fulfilled. Once it's done, you can do whatever you want with your life. Go fight crimes again, spend your money until your vault ran dry, cure cancer, whatever you decide. The only thing you're not allowed to do is making decisions for her. The girl has to choose the paths she walks herself."

"And If I don't accept?"

"Then you simply die. You're already dead, after all." Death said nonchalantly. "Some part of your soul will stay in the limbo until the time your new existent is ready to be reborn and will merge in a few years. Other parts will just fade away."

Tim's thoughts flew about inside his head as he stared pass both entities toward the unlit Bat-computer. Only mere hours ago when he stood there with Alfred and Dick, inquired about how Bruce's recovery had been going. The old butler said he was fine, cured, he even went back donning his mantle and took Damian with him to their beloved city patrol. But no one went through all the things he did and came out unscathed. They were all worried for him, if not physically then mentally.

Dick took back the role of Nightwing and went back to Blüdhaven. Batman had kept Damian as his new Robin. And at first, Tim had hoped it would be him. But he had come to realize that he, himself also had grown out of that role. Red Robin was something he had made for himself and Bruce had wanted Tim to see it as an accomplishment; a thing to be a treasure, a sign that he had grown as a crime-fighter.

But all of it came to nothing when Death had decided to end his life. Tim had wanted to rage and tear apart everything in his way just to get back to his family. Alas, in his heart he knew that it would make no difference at all. He was dead.

There was no way back, only forward.

And this girl, whoever she was, clearly in need of help if the two ancient entities had reached out to another universe to find someone. Whatever her destiny was, it would seem to be something bigger than just defeating a bad guy. Ah, he could almost hear Jason calling him 'Goody-Two-Shoes' with a sneer on his face.

Resigning to his fate, his gaze traveled back to the two beings as old as time itself. Taking a deep breath, he decided.

"Very well, I accept."

Death grinned from ear to ear, strangely contradicting sight with her gloomy clothing and makeup. Destiny simply quietly nodded in acceptance, he looked down at the large book in his hands again and spoke.

"Good. Now, let me tell you what you need to know…"

**: : : : : :  
  
**

It was only moments after the soul formerly known as Tim Drake had departed from the limbo when Destiny spoke once more.

"You intentionally picked that boy's soul, didn't you?" said the cloaked entity, he gestured for his companion to follow. Death shrugged but trailed after him without protest.

With a swipe of his arm the limbo dispersed and the ground became a grey stone-paved path. Dead orange leaves on the ground and leafless trees indicating late autumn of the year. The sky bled orange-red as the sun was about to set. The chill in the air bothered neither of them as they continued to walk down the path. Headstones and statues of weeping angels were presented on both sides. Less than a minute later they came to a stop.

Destiny and Death stood quietly as they watched a large group of people wearing both dark and colorful costumes, many of them wore masks to hide their real identities, some didn't care. All of them gathered in front of a newly erected headstone, belonged to a fresh grave of one, Timothy Drake. A large pile of red roses laid by the stone.

"This reality is vast and plentiful of Superheroes and their sidekicks," Destiny said. The hushed conversation could be heard from where the two ancients stood; but not the other way around. Even with these superheroes with their enhanced senses, they couldn't be hearing their conversation when they were technically stood at a hidden and separated pocket dimension. "–you could have easily picked someone with inherent magic already existed within them. yet, you chose a mundane boy with identity issues. And I don't believe for a second that you mistook him for Bruce Wayne."

"Well, nobody's perfect."

They watched as a tall figure in a dark cape and pointy cowl bent down and laid the last rose on the pile. A blond girl in the red and gold top let out a sniffle before a dark-haired boy next to her pulled her tighter to him; both their eyes were teary; no doubt they had been crying for sometimes. A short man wearing a black bodysuit stood a redhaired woman in a wheelchair, clutching her hand tight as a tall muscular man in the blue and red suit said something in a solemn tone.

"Maybe, I'm just being vindictive. After the things, the boy had done for many of them. These people always took him for granted. Now, they'll know that their screwup with him can no longer be fixed. They will live the rest of their lives thinking of 'what could have been' and 'Should I have treated him better'" Death said again and crossed her arms as they watched heroes after heroes said their last goodbye to the departed friend.

Destiny inclined his head to his sister. "But people had been treated unfairly all the time, you don't take notice of them like this."

"Of course not." Death grinned mysteriously.

Destiny could only sigh at his sister's crazy whims, knowing this plan could easily be turned into a big mess but he could do nothing about it since the die was cast; there was no turning back now. He really hoped this gambit would be paid off in the end.

**: : : : : :  
  
**

When Destiny and Death told him that he would travel to a new world for this job. He had been pleased that they had let him keep most of his cognitions and skills; he'd needed them they'd said. He had assumed that he would be dropped off in the area at the same age as when Death took him. They hadn't mentioned he would be arriving via a birthing canal, as a _newborn_.

Now he knew why the babies didn't remember their first moment of entering a new world—it was traumatizing! He shuddered at the memory of it.

Destiny had told him briefly of the new world where magic users—not the same as Homo Magi; Witches and Wizards they'd called themselves, had been living in separated society from Muggles (Non-magical) since the 1600s. Each country had its own magical government, its own schools to practice and hon their skills. Most witches and wizards avoided the Muggles altogether, some only interacted when absolutely necessary.

And then Destiny proceeded to tell him about the people who would be his new parents. A couple of witch and wizard, too young and too reckless in their tryst resulting in conceiving him. They hadn't been in love but they had been good friends since school days. Both came from a long line of wizarding families.

Sirius Black and Marlene McKinnon were their names. Sirius Black was a tall dark-haired man with startling grey eyes while Marlene McKinnon was a petite blond woman with eyes bright blue. Both were very attractive people. Both notoriously rebellious in their ways. But they were good people who had wanted to do the right thing. They both worked for Magical Law Enforcement, albeit different departments if he had discerned correctly.

He was (re)born during a cold winter night on the 7th of December; at home with only a few trusted friends to assist his mother instead of a maternity ward at a hospital.

_Leonis Timotheus Black._

Or as his new father had called him—Leo for short. That was his new name. Funnily enough, Timotheus was a variation of his former name. He was just happy to have something from his former life to hold on to. Although his new names did sound kind of pretentious at first. Not until he had heard the conversation of his new father who has been holding him and a tall dark-haired man wearing round-shaped glasses. (Although, it was kind of surprising his sight and hearing were developed enough to make sense of the conversation at all.

"I know Timotheus is for Marlene's dad but Leonis?...heh, That sounds suspiciously like a star name, doesn't it?" The man grinned, his eyes lit with mischief behind the glasses.

"Oh, it is!" His father cooed at Tim's new infant body. "But I can see my dear old mum foaming at the mouth when she checks that dreadful tapestry of her and sees that I have named my son after our Gryffindors' emblem! The house she loath so much!

They laughed themselves silly at the inside joke Tim didn't understand until a pretty redhead woman who had assisted his mother in birthing him earlier entered the room to chastise them for making a ruckus. The woman gently took him from his new father, before he could see what was happening, a warm feeling wrapped itself around him. Suddenly all his screaming earlier had tried his newly acquired body out. The last thing he knew, that the redhead was carrying him away, his father and his friend following not too far; before he knew where they were going, his eyelids slid shut, enveloping his world in blackness.

**: : : : : :  
  
**

He hadn't known when he had fallen asleep, his new infant body had no sense of time. But when he had woken up again, he was being shown around and introduced to even more people.

Two more men looked about the same age as his father. The taller of the two bore scars on his face, his clothes shabby but his hair sandy brown was combed tidily. His yellow-brown eyes were kind and he smiled at him gently. This was Remus Lupin.

The second man's name was Peter Pettigrew. He was short and obese, his brown hair disarrayed, his smile nervous, he looked like a shadow might scare him to death, the name's whole persona reminded Tim eerily of a low life criminal scurrying around within Park Row from his first life. Tim didn't like him one bit and was relieved when the man declined to hold him.

More people came and Tim tried hard to remember all the face that was presented on the day of his birth; a scarred man with a mean face who happened to be his father's boss called Alastor Moody. An aged old man, completed with long silvery beard and hair, named Albus Dumbledore who looked like he was Gandalf jumping out from Lord of the Rings movies but instead of grey robes, he was bright blue with little yellow stars instead. An elderly witch with a stern face but kind eyes named McGonagall (though his father called her Minnie, much to her ire)

Several members of McKinnon clans were also there. His grandfather whom he was named after; Timotheus McKinnon and his wife Lara. His aunts and uncles whose names he could barely remember. All of them shared the same fair blond hair with his mother.

The only family from his father's side, not counting his friends were an older woman named Callisto Black. She had the same dark hair and grey eyes like his father. Tim had learned much later on that both his father and Great Aunt Callisto was disowned by their family.

But out of all of them, the most important were the two that Tim had met earlier. The man wearing glasses with an uncontrollable mob of dark hair; James Potter and his pretty redheaded wife; Lily.

These two would become parents to Hariel Potter in the coming months. Lily Potter's stomach was barely showing sigh of pregnancy, it would be a while yet before his assignment was to be born into this world.

He yawned, sleepiness clawing up his tiny body again. Well, it wasn't like there was anything for him to do just yet. So, he let his mother rocked him to sleep.

**: : : : : :  
  
**

It had been a year since Hariel Rose Potter arrived in the world. It was during the last hours of the night right before the end of July.

She came out screaming as loudly as her mother's swearing of cursing James Potter's private parts to oblivion. And when the said man once saw his newborn daughter, proceeded to faint right at the spot. Sirius, who had brought his son along to witness all this, laughed his ass off and proceeded to take pictures for future blackmail materials. If he was old enough, he would have laughed along with his father.

A now-one-year-old Hariel—or as family and friends fondly calling her Harry; giggled aloud, she was such a happy child. Her big green eyes that she had inherited from her mother would show all sorts of emotions as she babbled nonsense to anyone around her. The girl was always curious about new things being presented in front of her. She'd also liked to snuggle, every time the two of them were put together for a nap, she always ended up clutching on to him like he was a teddy bear. James would grudgingly grumble as Sirius laughed along. Lily just cooed at them and took more pictures.

Leo watched in amusement as James and Sirius raced about the Potters' living room, chasing after Harry flying on her newly given toy broom, her wild black baby hair blowing everywhere as she giggled. He reflected on things that had happened ever since he'd arrived.

All this information he had gathered just by eavesdropping alone. It was a wonder how careless people would talk in front of a toddler, how they thought that a baby was too young to understand things. If only they knew!

Less than two years had passed since his arrival in the new world. His life started out slow. He took his time coming to think of himself as _Leo Black_ instead of _Tim Drake_. Even though, technically his (middle) name was still called Tim. But no one called him that. His parents loved his name; apparently, Lion was a symbol of their beloved schoolhouse. Every day, it got easier to accept the current reality. Both Marlene and Sirius showered him with love and affection, always saying that he was loved, despite the fact that

He still missed Bruce, Alfred, Dick, Kon, and Cassie, of course. Heck, he even grudgingly missed that hobbit—Damian, and the over-grown prat; Jason. He missed being able to run, train and fight. It would be a few more years yet before he could do all those things again. Gotham weighed heavily on his mind sometimes but he could do nothing about it anymore. He had made his choice to move on; all he could do was to slowly let it go. He knew Bruce would do his best to keep the city in line. And if anything, Bruce's supposed death was to prove, it was he knew Dick would always step up when the needs arise. The same went for both Jason who would do what he'd always done to protect the city in his own way. Damian, still had very big shoes to fill and a lot of things to prove. As much as the kid annoyed him, he still wished him the best. All of them would have Alfred and Barbara to support them.

Gotham might not improve, but it wouldn't be worse in his absence. With Bruce's return to the role of Batman, the city was in good hands.

Being a baby again was somewhat frustrating. His mind was fully developed but his brain and body were still catching up to it, slowly. Re-learning all sorts motor and speech skills were challenging. Teething was really painful; he was almost grateful he hadn't remembered those in his first life. The most humiliating though was the bladder control. Ugh. Every time someone came to change his nappy, he wanted to dig a hole in the ground and hide. And forget the control of his emotions he had perfected under the Batman; was all shot to hell, it was as if he had no reign over his body responses; this's somewhat to be expected to a degree.

But in some ways, it was surprisingly easy. Life was kind of simple. The routines of the first several months were almost repetitive; he woke up, ate, cried, and then went back to sleep, the next day he woke up again to repeat the cycle.

The house he's now living in a small modest home somewhere within greater London; it wasn't as grand as Drake mansion or as majestic as Wayne Manor, but it was warm and cozy. Marlene McKinnon, who despite technically married to Sirius; still going by her maiden name. As far as Leo knew, they didn't even have a wedding. Both just filed for marriage registration with the Ministry so when Leo was born, he wouldn't be illegitimate. They were living together, true, but both had their own bedrooms. The two were more of roommates who happened to shared parts being his parents, rather than a loving married couple who agreed to share a lifetime together like James and Lily Potter.

Both worked for British Ministry of Magic, Sirius as a Hit-wizard (the equivalent of a Muggle SWAT) and when an opportunity arose, he often paired up with his Best Mate; James Potter who was an Auror. (something like a Police detective) Marlene worked as a secretary in the Auror office. So, when his mother's maternity leave ended, his parents took turns staying at home taking care of him when they could. A great help who took care of him during the day when either of them could have thought; came in a form of a small sentient creature with big eyes and floppy ears called house-elf named Misty who had been given to his dad by his late uncle Alphard; brother of Callisto Black.

Leo also found out that his parents, as well as the Potters and his friends also worked with a secret society found by Albus Dumbledore; worked to opposed Voldemort and his sycophants. His parents talked about how the Ministry was useless in this war unless you went with an aggressive tactic like James' colleague—A man named Barty Crouch, whose policy involve heavy-handed interrogation was just as bad as the Death Eaters themselves.

Sirius and James dealt mostly on sabotage and recon, and sometimes even rescue missions. while Marlene listened to the chatters within the Ministry. Lily supplied the group with her potions and antidotes, as well as enchanting protective gear for her families' friends. Remus was sent out to do some kind of muscle work, he rarely visited them anymore. As for Peter; as far as Leo knew the man barely had time for the resistance since Mrs. Pettigrew contracted some sort of illness, he had been taking care of her ever since they had graduated.

Next, Leo had also pieced together why Sirius and Aunt Callisto were disowned by the Blacks. From listening to a conversation here and there; apparently, the House of Black was one of the prominent pureblood families in England. And any Squibs (non-magical born from wizarding families) were disowned and removed from a family tree.

This was the general treatment of most squibs born into pureblood families. Not all squibs were treated unkindly, most just pretended their squib child hadn't existed, or if they were able to; sending them away to their more distanced muggle relatives to be raised. Unfortunately, the House of Black was one of the more _extreme_ cases. Aunt Callisto wasn't the first Black Squib to be kicked out of the family. And those Black squibs had started their own non-magical branch of the family, much to the main house's ire. But since they were practically Muggles, nothing could be done to stop them. Their accumulated wealth over the centuries from successful ventures could almost rival those of the main branch itself.

And as for the reason his father was kicked out? Well, it seemed that during the summer before the sixth year of Hogwarts, Sirius ran away from home after a fight with his nasty mother. Whatever was said that day, it made Walburga Black mad enough to blast his name off of the family tree. Sirius then proceeded to camp at James's parents' back yard until he was emancipated. When Uncle Alphard who had no children and loved Sirius like his own son had passed away; he had left him with most of his fortunes, including the small house they were now living in as well as Misty the house-elf. And as a result, Alphard was also disowned from the family by Walburga; his own sister.

Leo was a little relief, to be honest. He'd rather not grow up in an extreme blood-purists household.

The next thing came Magic.

At first, he had some reservations about all the magic surrounding him. The memory of his original parents; Jack and Janet Drake's unfortunate fates after a run-in with Obeah Man; ending in his mother's death and his father crippled, had always haunted him even years after it happened; like a poorly healed wound, it left a scar in his heart. But after years of being surrounded by Heroes wielding magic, and his talk with Wonder Woman; whose body was also brought to life by the magic of the gods, or a magic-user like Zatanna; his attitude toward the subject had somewhat improved. He'd understood that Magic was simply a tool and for some people, a weapon for others. It was the wielder's intention; for good or for ill, that mattered. The same could be said with any non-magical.

He didn't even need to look far for the example. Look at The Joker, aside from his intelligence and his sociopathic mind, the man had nothing to enhance his body to be strong. The man still murdered and ruined the lives of hundreds of people just because it amused him. Because at the end of the day, who he was. Sometimes, Tim had questioned why Bruce even bothered putting the man in Arkham Asylum anymore. The man belonged in jail, not a mental ward.

What hadn't prepared him for though, was just _how much_ magic he would encounter. It was far more than what he had seen what Zatanna did with her saying the spells backward. It was different than how magic helped Wonder woman or Shazam battled their foes. These witches and wizards handled the magic like it was part of their body, as natural as breathing.

It was a thing of wonder watching his parents and the house-elf worked at everyday-magic. He watched the frying pan washed and scrubbed itself with a flick of his mother's wand or just a snap of Misty's finger. The house-elf would clean rooms and cook meals with magic. Sirius working on his vintage _flying_ motorbike. Marlene taking notes with a self-writing quill. The photographs on the wall of their apartment were moving about. The portraits could even talk back to you. They posted mails by owls. People travel to his house with green magical fire by the fireplace. They even had a spell for changing his nappy, for heaven's sake! He could never imagine there was magic for such mundane things.

Magic was just…really marvelous.

Leo had his own accidental magic only a day after his first birthday when he summoned a sippy cup from across the room. Both his parents weren't home to witness this, but Misty who heard his fuzzing arrived just in time to see the cup sailed in the air to him. The house-elf sobbed big happy tears and eagerly reported this to Marlene who was first to come home from work. The woman squealed loudly before proceeding to write all her families about the news. Sirius's reaction was similar to his mother, albeit more subdued. The only people he contacted were the Potters and McGonagall. (The latter, to confirmed Leo's admittance to the Magic school where his parents went.)

And thus, cementing his status as a future wizard just like Destiny and Death had assured him. His family had a small celebration that night, even Misty was invited to sit at their table.

Leo would try repeating this several times, days afterward. Just summoning things to him. The hum of Magic was within his small body. He wasn't successful every time though. But once it did, he would let out a gurgle resembling laughter. It was quite exciting! But the act had also left him exhausted, he would be down for several hours nap afterward. He'd theorized that it was because his magic wasn't mature enough yet.

Harry, however, had more variety in her accidental magic. Tim was there when she had her first accidental magic. James Potter tearfully swung his daughter proudly as his hair switching back and forth between pink and blue, before he was stopped by an exasperated Lily who took her daughter away from his clutch. Since then, the girl had changed her father's hair into various colors, summoning toys and blanket to herself, things would fly around when she upset or hungry, or sometimes she even managed to change the colors of her toys. Whatever mood had struck her. Leo had sat and watched most of it with amusement.

However, their blissful days were shattered abruptly only a month after his first birthday, the moment Leo came to a violent realization; that Magic also had a treacherous side, a reminder that he was born in a dark time; when his mother and her entire family was massacred by the terrorists calling themselves Death Eaters. They were followers of Dark Lord Voldemort.

From what little information the two entities had supplied him with, the man was supposed to be one of the most brilliant wizards within recent history. But instead of spending his time inventing or improve the lives of the wizarding community, the man turned out to be a tyrant and a megalomaniac on par with Lex Luther or Vandal Savage. Hell-bent on 'purifying' wizarding race, while searching for a way to achieve immortality. He also filled his ranks with equally lunatic sycophants, who enjoyed murders and mayhems that made some villains from the Batman's gallery paled in comparison.

This so-called Dark Lord, was the one Baby Harry was supposed to defeat? What the actually hell?! The wizard was a man, grown; a powerful one. Strong enough that even the squads of Aurors and Hit-wizards had a hard time dueling him without his crazy followers.

The night after the massacre, his father came home with bloodshot eyes. There were no tears but the pain on his face was visible to see. When he told Misty the bad news, the house-elf openly wept on the floor. Leo toddler's body could do nothing but cry to express his sadness as his father clutched him to his chest. His mother's untimely and violent death had dredged up his own memories of Janet Drake's demise. Twice now, he had lost women whom he called his mothers. He wondered if he was cursed, somehow.

"It's just us now, cub." His father said.

That night, Leo had learned about his father's hidden ability; when the man transformed himself into a large black dog. He was a size of Irish wolfhound but with long midnight-colored fur of Rough Collie, a weird combination. Leo finally realized why the Marauders had nicknamed Sirius 'Padfoot'. His thoughts later wandered on this and came to a theory that all the Marauders might be capable of transforming into animal forms, respectively according to their nicknames. It was quite interesting, something for him to research once he was old enough.

After all the crying from the news of his mother's death, his toddler body was exhausted but his mature mind still trying to keep going a mile a minute. Until, the dog jumped on the bed, blinked his sad grey eyes at him before curled his large body around Leo's smaller one, he had tired himself out with all the crying. Finally, they fell asleep together like that, taking solace and comfort in each other's warm.

Sirius might not have been in love with Marlene, but he still loved her nonetheless. She was, after all, his partner in raising Leo; their son. She was also one of his long-time friends whom he had known ever since he was a boy of eleven. They had shared the same school House for seven years. And due to their share responsibility as his parents, he made her one of his closest friends besides the Marauders and Lily Potter. Losing her must have hurt him to a certain extent.

Following Marlene's death, Sirius became much more paranoid. He re-warded his home to high heaven. The hours of his works during the day became less and less, his father refused to leave him alone with Misty at home. Their fireplace was restricted only for a few people to use (the Marauders plus Lily Potter and Albus Dumbledore) Misty no longer allowed to take him outside their backyard to catch some sun in the afternoon anymore. In fact, the only time Leo left the house at all, was when he was with Sirius. Around the same time, the Potters had also moved from their ancestral home (which had been on locked down, hidden behind high-level wards.) and went into hiding. Leo had assumed this was because the people who were in the resistance, as well as their families, were dying left and right.

A month after his father redid the security, he had heard Sirius's talking to James during one of the rare visits, that there might be a spy; a traitor among the resistance. Not knowing whom to trust, Sirius started packing things into trunks; their tomes and books, magical artifacts, anything of values. The House was almost bare, saved for the furniture, his blocks of toys and any monitoring devices his father set up to protect the property. He wrote some letters, having them sent by Misty instead of an owl. Leo had no idea what was said in those letters if he were to guess they might be some kind of arrangements in case the worst happened. Sirius also gave Misty something called Portkey. Leo had no idea what Portkey was, to him it looked like a cheap-looking trinket but he assumed it might have been a means for transport in case of them being attacked.

A feminine shriek cut the train of his thoughts abruptly, Leo's baby reflex flinched at the sound. Apparently, Lily Potter had arrived from the kitchen; cladded in a cream color apron, to announce that the celebratory dinner was ready, only to find her precious daughter hovering above ground—on a broom, chasing around by two grown wizards. And seemed it was _not_ something she appreciated.

The redheaded witch snatched her protesting daughter off of the toy broom before scolded both her husband and Sirius. Baby Harry didn't seem to appreciate having taken away from her newest toy, proceeded to cry big fat crocodile tears, showing her displeasure for every occupant in the room. As she cried, the scattered toys rose from the floor, started flinging themselves at all occupants. A stuffed dragon smacked into James's face, as one stuffed lion flew at Leo's head, though he was saved just in time by his laughing father.

This only served to spur Lily to scold the men further. Both looked sheepish as James moved in to placate his daughter. Meanwhile, Sirius carried Leo and followed them into the dining room with a guilty look on his face, as he listening to Lily's promise of several irreversible hexes to his manly bits. It was him who gave Baby Harry that broom as her birthday present. If Leo could laugh, he would have done it already. But all his one-and-a-half-year-old body could only produce weird giggles.

"Your son is laughing at you, Padfoot." James pointed out helpfully while wiping his daughter's tear-stained face after Lily set her down in a high-chair. Baby Harry still looked put out for having her new toy taken away but the sight of chocolate cake in front of her, she clapped her hands excitedly.

Sirius who was putting Leo in his own high-chair paused as looked down at him. His grey eyes narrowed; Leo made a point by giggled again with finger-pointing at his father's face. The man morphed into a wide grin instead of annoyance. "What a rascal! As expected of my son!"

"That's not a compliment you should be giving your son, Black!" Lily said with false exasperation as she waved her wand, a plate of roasted beef gently floated down on the table.

"Oh, Merlin's pants! Give me a break, Lily-Petal! My son finally shows his cheeky side! He's usually as quiet as a lamb, I was getting worried there's something wrong with him!" His father whined. "Now I know he's not! Hmm….maybe he just needs some guidance…"

"James, tell your friend to stop daydreaming. It's time for dinner." Lily said.

"Padfoot, stop your daydreaming. It's time for dinner." James drawled with a snicker.

"Shut up, Prongs!" Sirius drawled back.

"You're just jealous my daughter is cheekier than your son! Isn't that right, Bambi!" James boasted with his nose in the air and planted a loud kiss on Harry's cheek, she giggled loudly.

Sirius just stuck his tongue out at his friend. Leo suppressed the urge to roll his eyes at the two _supposedly_ fully-grown adults.

Misty, whom Sirius had brought along to help Lily, arrived along with a large bowl of mash potato and a dish of freshly cooked sausages, joining the cooked vegetables and diner rolls already sitting on the table. In front of Harry and Leo were smaller sets of age-appropriated and already cooled foods, consisted of sippy cups, and baby forks and spoons.

"Blimey, Lily! Where's the army you feeding?" Sirius blinked owlishly at all the spreads that the redhead and his house-elf set on the table.

"Oh, shush. If we have any leftover, you can have Misty take it home for lunch tomorrow." Lily waved her hand and tugged her wand back to a holster on her leg. She took a seat next to Harry while James sat at the head of the table. Sirius sat by Leo but since he had started eating by himself, his father was just there to supervise, unlike Harry who still needed some help from adults; in this case—Lily.

"By the way, we still need to finish our talk about the Fidelius Charm." His father said as he piled his own plate with sausages.

"What's there to talk about? You're already our secret keeper. There's no one else better." James said.

Ah. The Fidelius Charm. That was an interesting and amazing piece of magic. From the limited knowledge he'd gathered from eavesdropping alone, the spell was supposed to hide a secret within someone's soul. Once cast, the secret could not be coerced to give up the said secret unless voluntarily divulged. It was a very difficult and complex spell to cast as well as ancient. Not many knew about it. The Potters only learned about it because Dumbledore had suggested it to them. The aged wizard had taught Lily how to cast it. This was a method that the Potters had chosen to hide their hideout cottage, with his father as their secret keeper.

"I agree, you're the best person for this. Even if sometimes, I didn't want to admit it." Lily concurred with her husband.

"Aww, I knew you secretly love me!" Sirius teased, before pausing. "But that's the point, innit?" His expression suddenly became more somber. Both Potters glanced at him. "Everyone knows I am your best mate. They will be looking for me first! If you're using someone else, it'll be like an extra security measure!"

"But what's the point of using another Secret Keeper? You can't be coerced to reveal the secret anyway." Lily said skeptically.

"And with their attention on me, I'll set some of my own alerts to send out to you that they're on to us! It will buy you and the real secret keeper time to get away." Sirius argued.

"But we can't put you and Leo in any more danger, Sirius!"

"Don't worry about my son, I already have emergency portkey prepared. Misty knew what to do if there's an attack." Lily was still not convinced, so he turned to James. "Look at it this way, mate. It'll be our biggest prank ever pull!"

James's lit up behind the round-shaped glasses, he slowly grinned. Lily rolled her eyes and said. "Let's just say we decided to change the keeper. But why not Remus instead of Peter? No offense to your friend, but after seven years in school together, I still don't trust him."

"Moony is out of the country doing Merlin-knows-what for Dumbledore, for one." Sirius shrugged. "And because it's Peter, that's why it'll work. Who would have thought we will pick someone like him, right?"

"Someone like him?" Lily's eyebrow lifted at that. "I don't like the man, but I still find that a little mean, Sirius."

James laughed. "Oh, don't worry about it, Luv. That's just the Black in him speaking."

"Why you little—" half-eaten roll sailed through the air toward James, but the man ducked it expertly.

"Don't worry, Padfoot. Lily and I will think about it." James assured him.

"Pafoo!" Harry repeated after her father excitedly. Sirius grinned widely at her.

Leo who sat by Harry's other side mentally shook his head at his father's antics. What Sirius had said had some merits, it's true. But Leo had to agree with Lily about the choice of the new secret keeper. Peter Pettigrew's shifty demeanors still pinging at his well-honed instinct. Until today he still wondered what had made the rest of the Marauders befriended the man in the first place.

Leo went back to eat quietly as his attention turned to watch the girl sitting next to him, all the mess she made surrounding her plate. Harry giggled when a spoonful of mashed potato completely missed her mouth and fell sideways onto her bib. Lily shook her head and fondly wiped her daughter's chin before letting her try again.

He looked on at the display of the chaotic joy of the Potters, spying his own father whose smile was more genuine and less strained for the first time in months since they both had lost Marlene.

He should have known better, that these relatively peaceful days wouldn't last.

Three months after Harry's first birthday, less than a week after the Potters switched their secret keeper from Sirius to Pettigrew; when all things went downhill.

**: : : : : :  
  
**

It was Halloween night. Both muggle and magical children filled the street for festivity. Leo was dressed in all red clothes, with a 'fake' red beard hanging on his face, a plush-sword at in his chubby hand; he was supposed to be Godric Gryffindor. Though he was all dressed up for the occasion, he wasn't allowed outside that night. His father's paranoid still held firm, he had instructed Misty to put a bag of candies by their front step, with a sign for them to 'help themselves' attached to it.

At first, nothing significant happened. Sirius had allowed Leo to stay up watching the Muggle cartoons broadcasted on Halloween Special. It already went over his bedtime, when a series of klaxon alarms from his father's office blared to life.

"Those're from James and Lily's monitor alerts!" Sirius's eyes went wide, he jumped up with wand in hand and ran into his office. Leo who was about to doze off, blink back to awareness.

"No! Nonononono!" He could hear his father howled in anguish from the office.

"Dada?" Leo called out with his limited baby-speech. Sirius reappeared, tears streaking down his cheeks, his father's distress was apparent to see. Even his own guts told him that something really wrong had just happened, and the worse had yet to come.

"Misty!" His father yelled for the house-elf as he picked Leo up from their couch, not even bothered to dry his tear-stained face.

The little elf appeared right away with a pop. "Yes, Master Siri?"

"Get Everything as we planned. We're leaving now!" Sirius told her as he summoned a baby swaddle from the next room and hastily waved his wand, the fabric automatically wrapped itself around Leo. The elf's eyes went wide, she nodded and disappeared without saying anything, only to appear again a few minutes later with shrunken trunk hanging from the chains on her waist. Leo remembered that trunk, he had seen his father and Misty shrunk several trunks and put them inside before shrinking it again one last time.

"Do you remember what to do if I didn't come to pick you and Leo up?" His father asked the elf.

"Yes, Misty be staying with Ms. Callie and take care of Young Master Leo." Misty nodded hard her ears flopping about. "And the next day, Misty must go bring Master's letter to Gringotts."

"Very good, Misty. Here, take Leo and activate the portkey." Sirius said as he held out the already bundled up Leo to the elf.

"Dada?" Leo called again, squirmed away from the elf's hands. His instinct screaming in his head that his father was about to do something really stupid. "Dada, No!"

Sirius seemed to detect his son's distress, turned around and reached out with a shaky hand to pat his head, his grey eyes brimming with fresh tears. "Listen, my cub. I will be with you in a little bit, all right? Be good for Aunt Callie, yeah?"

"Dada no go!" He cried out for his father, tears leaking out; wanting to stop the man from doing whatever it was that would be leading to him getting himself killed. But his current body was incapable to do anything but cried for his father to stop. And that wasn't even working!

"I love you, cub." He bent down and kissed Leo's head one last time before pulling away.

Before they could do anything else a loud boom shook the house. Sirius snapped into action, wand out, muttering a spell under his breath. "That worthless rat! They are attacking the house ward! Misty, go now!"

"Yes, Master!" The elf secured Leo's swaddling body to herself. Pulling out the spelled locket.

"Dada, no!"

"Take care of my son," Sirius told the elf shakily, just seconds before Misty spoke the activation phrase.

Leo screamed when the pulling sensation swirled around them. Misty wrapped around him with her bony arms. It might have been no longer than a few minutes, but for him, it felt like forever; before the pulling twisted and changed into pushing, the forced propelled them forward until Misty landed on her feet, shrunken trunk thudding on the floor next to them, Leo securely still in the swaddle in her arm.

His baby eyes blinked as the surrounding came back to his awareness, realizing that they had arrived at someone's living room. If he'd remembered correctly, this was one of Aunt Callisto's muggle houses. Leo had visited here before when he was younger when Marlene was still alive.

The elf shakily unwrapped the knots to untangle his swaddle from herself. With a snap of her finger, the muggle carrycot appeared on the lounging sofa. The elf sat him down gently inside, tugging the blanket around him. "Master Leo be a good boy. Misty will go get Madam Callie!"

"Mity no go!" Leo called out but the elf already popped away, rationally he knew the elf wouldn't be gone far, and he was safe in this place, but he had been spending time as a baby for so long, maybe he's regressing? Or maybe it was the sense of loss playing with his mind. His father just sent him away before gone to do gods knew what. It hadn't been a year yet after when he had lost a mother, he wasn't ready to lose a father too!

A commotion signaling Aunt Callisto's arrival, Leo wiggled and awkwardly sat up inside the carrycot. His great aunt's hair was in disarrayed, she wore a fluffy robe, it was clear that Misty had just woken her up. The elf following after her.

"Oh, Leo. My poor baby." She hurried toward the carrycot. Leo held out his short signaling that he wanted to be picked up. The elder woman complied with any protest and took in the opportunity to check him for any injury or distress. Nothing to be seen but the tear-stained cheeks.

"Anty! Want Dada!" Leo sniffed and shook out his little fists.

"Your father will be here soon, alright?" She tried to soothe him with her gentle pat on his back, she cradled him close. Before turning to the sniffing Misty. "Can you tell me what happened, Misty?"

The elf nodded after blew her nose into a part of her uniform. "Master Siri and Young master were in the living room when the Master's monitor alarms went off."

"Ones for Sirius's house?"

Misty shook her head. "No, Miz. They be the ones for his friends."

"The Potters' then." Callisto grimaced. Leo knew his great aunt didn't know the full details, only that several wizarding families had gone into hiding, but the Potters were the one Sirius was closest to, she could make an educational guess.

"Misty not know but Master was very angry and sad afterward and he called for Misty." The elf sniffed again. "Master Siri was crying. He told Misty to get the packed trunks. When Misty came back, he gave Misty the Young Master and told Misty to take him away…." The elf trembled, tears brimming her large eyes, she blew her nose again. "…that when the house wards went boom! Master Siri told Misty to go. So, Misty went and came here with Young Master."

He couldn't see Aunt Callisto's expression to know she went pale as she continued petting her trembling hand over his back. Her voice was shaky as she spoke next. "So, Sirius stays to fight?"

"Misty not think so. Misty saw Master Siri apparated away before the portkey activated. But Misty not know where Master went." The elf said dejectedly.

Leo scowled into his great aunt's shoulder where he rested his head at the moment. So, Misty did see his father disapparated, but not knowing where. If he was to guess, it would be the Potters' place. At least he would be safe for the time being, the same couldn't be said for the Potters, however. He knew vaguely that Harry would survive, as for Lily and James….as much as he hadn't wanted to, Leo could only assume the worst had happened when he heard the alarms blared into life earlier. And no matter what happened, the fates awaited baby Harry wouldn't be kind ones after all Destiny and Death did say she would need a helping hand.

"Anything else Sirius said, Misty?" His great aunt's voice brought him back to the moment.

"He told Misty to stay with Ms. Callie and take care of Master Leo until Master Siri himself comes to pick us up," Misty replied sadly.

"We will play by ears, then. Who knows what in Merlin's name that boy's doing? I have paid Gringotts handsomely to ward this house, we should be safe for the time being." Aunt Callisto let out a long sigh. "Do you remember the rooms that Sirius and Leo had stayed the last time?" The elf nodded eagerly. "Take the trunks to their rooms then. You both will stay here until we have more news. And Misty, you can take the room you had last time. And don't worry about the housework, just look after Leo's needs for now."

"Thank you, Miz." Misty grimaced at not being allowed to do housework but still bowed low with gratitude.

"Let's turn in for the night. I'm sure Leo is already exhausted enough with all that happened." The elder woman suggested. The elf nodded and disappeared along with the shrunken trunk; possibly to put stuff away.

"Don't worry, little lion." Aunt Callisto crooned soothingly as she walked the both of them upstairs toward the room he would be staying. "Everything will be alright, you'll see."

Leo wanted to scoff at her words. It was obvious from her tone, even Aunt Callisto herself hadn't believed in her own placated words either.

And just as he expected, nothing was alright.

**: : : : : :**  
  


The next several days, Aunt Callisto was in a constant state of melancholy and furious. Leo could do nothing but watched things getting unfolded.

** _THE DARK LORD NO MORE!_ **

** _ALL HAIL HARIEL POTTER! THE GIRL WHO LIVED!_ **

Those were the headlines that _Daily Prophet_ had printed the following day after Halloween. Even as a squib, Aunt Callisto still subscribed to the newspaper because some of her investments were within the Wizarding worlds. She had read the articles out loud during breakfast for everyone presented; Herself, two of her assistants; Ben Copper—a freshly graduated muggle-born and An older squib named Paloma Carrow, as well as Leo, and Misty.

Apparently, The Dark Lord attacked the Potters last night. James and Lily lost their lives after a fierce duel, the house was half-destroy but when You-know-who turned his wand to a fifteen-months-old Hariel Potter, his curse backfired and just like that the most feared Dark Lord of the Twentieth Century since Gellert Grindelwald was defeated, _by a baby_.

Destiny and Death had told him that Hariel Potter would defeat Lord Voldemort, but not _how_ she did it. Just that she'd do it more than once. If that was true then, Voldemort wasn't really dead, was he?

The details they had printed were outlandish and vague at best, almost propagated at worst. It was cleared, Minister Bagnold was milking this to her political agenda. Along with Barty Crouch—the current Head of DMLE and his _Fighting Fire with Fire_ Policy brought even more violence to the suspected Death Eaters; the man became much more popular now that he was on the winning sides. His crusades against the Death Eaters were just as merciless as the guys he was hunting. For weeks afterward, the _Daily Prophet_ printed nothing but the same drivel but no concrete facts to back it up besides wild speculations from so-called _experts_. Even Albus Dumbledore, only replied with no comment when asked and refused to be quoted.

The stragglers of You-Know-Who's followers made several desperate attacks as the last spurt attempt on Muggle-born families as well as Pureblood ones who were vocally against their leader; the most famous was the Attack on the Longbottoms. Frank; who was one of the most premiered Auror of this generation, was tortured with Cruciatus Curse to sanity along with his wife; Alice. Leaving their son, Neville who was the same age as Leo and Harry to his grandmother's custody.

Following numerous trials of the arrested Death Eaters; names of the Dark Lord's followers were revealed but the most shocking was Crouch's own son—Barty Crouch Jr. who took part in torturing the Longbottoms, along with Rabastan, Rodolphus and Bellatrix Lestrange. (The latter, turned out to be Callisto's own, estranged niece.) It was one of the biggest scandals of the decade—not counting the Fall of You-Know-Who. Crouch Sr. not only couldn't help his son without appearing biased, was forced to arrest him. His trial was nothing but a sham and everyone knew it. Nevertheless, Minister Bagnold didn't demote him immediately, instead, she let him continued with his crackdown which turned even more ferocious than before.

Aunt Callisto and Paloma Carrow discussed that it was because Bagnold wanted excuses to seize the vaults belong to the excused Death Eaters or at least holding it hostage until they could pay their ways out. This became apparent when several obvious supporters of the Dark Lord like Lucius Malfoy (who also married to Callisto's other niece.), or Amycus and Alecto Carrow (Paloma's second cousin) were able to bribe their ways out of being imprisoned by claiming that they had been acting under Imperius Curse.

But these were not the worst thing that had happened.

No, the worst came about three days after the Fall of the Dark Lord. When the news of Sirius Black being arrested for murders was headlined on the _Daily Prophet_.

** _SIRIUS BLACK: THE POTTERS' BETRAYER_ **

** _DOZEN OF MUGGLES MURDERED. PETER PETTIGREW THE REAL HERO!_ **

When Aunt Callisto finished the article, she screamed her lung off before proceeded to throw the papers into the fire. Her two assistants glanced at each other warily. Leo could do nothing but throwing his food around in rage. Misty could only sob and saying that the news wasn't true.

The papers reported that Sirius was the one who gave away the Potters' location to the Dark Lord. After the defeat of his supposed master, Sirius went into hiding but was found later by Peter Pettigrew who confronted him in the middle of muggle's street. Accusing the man of being a traitor, Sirius somehow went insane and tried to murder Pettigrew with a blasting curse, killing his former friend along with a dozen of muggles. Apparently, Sirius was arrested right afterward and even confessed to the crime. He was sent to Azkaban without even a lick of investigation or trial. Meanwhile, Pettigrew, who hadn't enough pieces of a body left, was awarded posthumously.

Of course, neither Leo nor Aunt Callisto believed these drivel. They'd known better. In Leo's case, he knew for a fact that it was Peter Pettigrew who was the Potters' real secret keeper, but Leo himself was in no condition to testify for his father—his body was only twenty-months-old! He couldn't even speak full sentences yet!

During one of his rare appearances at Wizengamot, the Daily Prophet had tried to interview the current Lord Black; Arcturus Black, who was actually Sirius's grandfather and his own great grandfather, the man refused venomously before threatening to the hex anyone who dared bother him again. Despite his advanced age, Arcturus still a very influential figure, while he advocated for blood-purist, the man had never outright supported Voldemort. Bagnold's poor attempt to seize the Black's fortune was met with a threat of removing her from the office. The witch had grudgingly backed down since there was no evidence of Arcturus being a Death Eater.

Leo had never met his great grandfather in person. Sirius was never fond of his family; aside from Alphard, Callisto and occasionally Andromeda Tonks née Black (who married a muggle-born and was disowned for it); all three were kicked out from the family, had their names burn off the Black tapestry. From what he had eavesdropped from Aunt Callisto; Arcturus was a shrew man but over the years, the man had mellowed out a little by little, possibly because he had outlived most of his relatives; his wife, his own siblings, even his own son and one of his grandson who was supposed to be his heir was dead.

But by refusing to acknowledge Sirius's charges publicly, showing the wizarding world that whatever Sirius had done, good or ill and nothing to do with the Black anymore. And Bagnold had no ground to drag the Blacks through trial for associating with Voldemort. But this also hurt Sirius's chance to prove his innocence.

Aunt Callisto, of course, didn't deter from this development and just sat around waiting for a miracle. She penned the Ministry asking for a proper trial for Sirius right away. Only to be denied on the course that she was a _squib_, therefor had no saying in the wizarding world. She was even more furious when Gringotts sent her a notification letter telling them that Minister Bagnold had seized Sirius's personal vault! The nerves of that woman!

It was a good thing that Leo's father had taken precautions. Sirius had always known that Bagnold was a greedy shrew and if anything happened to him, the first thing the hag did, would be trying to take his vault. (Sirius had voiced once that he couldn't believe the old hag was a Ravenclaw!) It was her modus operandi after all. So, he had left a letter with Misty, telling her to bring it to Gringotts if anything happened to him. The ever-loyal elf went to the wizarding bank right the next morning after Halloween. And Gringotts proceeded as their client had wanted; moving everything but a single Knut to a new account under Leo's name.

It was a slap in the Minister's face—a prank! Left for her by Sirius. She got nothing but a bronze Knut!

After cackled like a mad hyena at her nephew's devious antic, she felt it was justified enough to leave the issue with Bagnold alone. ('That witch deserved it!' she'd said.) Aunt Callisto then sent a letter to Dumbledore next, asking for a meeting. Since the old wizard was Chief of Wizengamot, there might be something he could do to help.

Dumbledore arrived a few days later during one afternoon, with a solemn face and exhausted expression. Misty dutifully served them afternoon tea inside Aunt Callisto's solar. At least, the man showed up instead of refused a meet. There was some hope in that. The two assistants were also present, as well as Leo who was left in the playpen setting in one corner of the room. He wasn't really part of the conversation, but he could hear them clearly enough from he's at.

"Are you saying that you, as the Chief of Wizengamot can't do anything to help my nephew?" Leo heard his great aunt said shakily.

The old wizard sighed, long and deep. "I want to, Madam Black, I do. But there's no evidence supporting Sirius's innocence. Even I, who was the one that taught Lily Potter that Fidelius spell, wasn't the one who cast it. And like everyone, I assumed it was Sirius who had always been the secret keeper. And, I did state in my testimony that I didn't know for sure who's their real keeper, only that it's only my beliefs. The only thing we have was a very loud statement from the deceased Peter Pettigrew, who accused him of betraying the Potters. And statements from muggle witnesses who only heard of what _Pettigrew_ shouted out loud."

"And you can't truth-serumed the dead." Paloma Carrow said with a shake of her head. "I heard there wasn't even a body left. Nothing but a finger."

"But they can give Sirius's truth serum, can't they?" Ben Copper suggested hopefully.

"They could, but they won't. Not after Sirius' _supposed_ confession, it was as good as." Dumbledore said gravely. "With the current political climate, no one would be in favor of setting a trial for a confessed Death Eater."

"My nephew is not, and never will be a Death Eater!" Aunt Callisto roared and slapped her hand on the table, everyone sitting at the table except Dumbledore flinched. "That boy would die first before betraying his best friend!"

"Bagnold doesn't care. Sirius is convicted and that's that." Paloma scoffed. "You know opening a trial will only cost money, something that _Hag_ trying to suck it out from all these. And after his stun with Gringotts, there was no way that woman would agree."

"What about the Potters' wills? If they really switched the keeper, wouldn't they state that in their wills?" Aunt Callisto asked hopefully.

"I'd inquired about that just yesterday, Gringotts's representative didn't confirm or deny, if the contents of their wills stating anything about Sirius's involvement," Dumbledore said. "Only that the Potters' wills could only be read once Hariel Potter turned Fourteen."

"Fourteen? Why fourteen?" Ben questioned.

"I do not know but if I have to guess, it was a way to prevent young Miss Potter from spending Family Fortunes too young," Dumbledore replied. "I know that James and Lily had set up a trust vault for her since they had asked me to carry the key until it will be returned to the young lady when it's time that she starts attending Hogwarts."

"Speaking of Hariel, how is she? Where did she even go? All the Potters were gone unless you count the American Branch. And Alice Longbottom who's her godmother is in a mental ward." Aunt Callisto inquired.

Dumbledore looked grimmer than before. "The girl survived the curse with only a scar on her forehead. While physically she's fine. I do not know if she will ever remember the event of that night. As for where she is, she….she's at a safe enough place. No Death Eaters can get to her. But I'm sorry I cannot tell you where she is."

Aunt Callisto stared at the aged wizard for a long minute, before letting out a sigh of her own. "Very well. I won't ask further then."

The discussion ended soon after that.

Before the old wizard left, he had come over to Leo's playpen. His blue eyes behind half-moon shaped glasses looked at him as Leo was pretending to play with wooden blocks, and unconsciously pulling on his magic; making the blocks floated around over his head. Leo was so lost in his own thoughts after listening to the conclusion about his father that he hadn't even noticed the aged wizard standing there with his great aunt watching him.

"He has Sirius's eyes." The man commented. His voice had startled Leo out of his thoughts and abruptly dropped the floating blocks.

"Yes, he does. But he's quieter than that boy when he's at that age. Thank, Merlin for small mercy." Aunt Callisto said. "And I hope it stays that way."

"I don't think anyone at Hogwarts will be ready for the second coming of Sirius Black." Dumbledore chuckled good-naturedly.

In the end, even Albus Dumbledore could do nothing for Sirius. Both Aunt Callisto and Leo were still furious. But what the man had said was true, there was no physical evidence contradicting Sirius's guilt. No one could do anything, not when everyone in the British Wizarding world wanted to rest of the Dark Lord's followers to be put away. It became worse when Bagnold could not hold Sirius's vault a hostage, Leo's father refused to play by her rules. And now that his vault was only a Knut worth, Bagnold didn't see the appeal to drag the money out from him any longer. The easiest way was just shoved him into Azkaban and moved on.

It was frustrating and cruel. Leo remembered the case of Henry Allen—Barry Allen's father who was wrongfully imprisoned in his first life. The man had died in prison only a few years before Barry became the Flash and found proof of his innocence. His sentence was overturned by the appeal court posthumously, by then it was too late because an innocent man had passed away.

For the first time since he'd arrived at this new world, he was truly terrified—not for himself but for his father. Sirius might be arrogant and reckless but he was still innocent of betraying his best friends. But another point still stood, those muggles and Peter Pettigrew were still dead, regardless of whose wand it was that cast the blasting curse.

Leo had hoped that his father's fate would fare better than Henry Allen's. That he would hold on long enough until they find any solid evidence to prove his innocence.

Aunt Callisto had written numerous people during the time since the news had just hit until the time of Dumbledore's visit. Many were his father's acquaintances, several had worked with him at DMLE or people whom he had helped, their replies were along the same line that Sirius was crazy just like all his relatives and they wished he would rot in Azkaban for betraying the Potters to You-Know-Who. Some had the gall to comment that a squib like her should know better than to try and defend a convicted Death Eater.

To say that Aunt Callisto was mad seemed to be too small of a word. The elderly woman swore she would remember these two-faced toadies until the day she'd die. She had Ben made a list of all the names, had him cast stasis charm preserving all the replies and put them in her Gringotts Vault until the day came when Sirius would be free. She vowed she would throw their letters to their faces when they came crawling back.

Out of all the letters she had sent, the only one that had no reply at all belonged to Remus Lupin. It wasn't returned either, so they had no idea if he had received it but hadn't bothered to read its content. Even Dumbledore who had sent him to work out of the country couldn't get the man to reply. And when he'd showed up for the Potters' funerals, he had left right after before anyone could get a word in with him. From that day on, Remus Lupin had all but disappeared from the British wizarding community. Some said it was because the man was too heartbroken, too many memories of his dead friends.

Leo didn't know what to think. He hadn't spent time with Remus as much as he did with James Potter due to their restricted visits during the war. But Leo remembered the scarred man with a gentle gaze. He seemed the most level-headed out of all his father's friends. The man had a look of someone who harboring some sort of secrets within him, however, Leo still liked the man better than that rat Pettigrew. Maybe the man just needed sometimes and distant to collect himself. Aunt Callisto was angry but after a while, she came to the same conclusion as Leo and decided to leave the issue be.

With the matter of his father's imprisonment half-solved, came the next subject for Leo to ponder; Where was Harry Potter?

Dumbledore seemed to know where she was; possibly the one who arranged for her accommodation, but didn't want to reveal the location to them. Seemed fair from his perspective. He clearly had wanted the girl to be kept safe. Maybe there were protective measures in places that Leo had no idea about?

Hmm…something for him to find out as soon as Leo was old enough to hack some records.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N 2 ::** Regarding Alphard and Callisto Black. Alphard is in canon but Callisto is an OC. The family tree of the Blacks is already confusing all on its own, let’s me explain a few things.
> 
> In canon, Alphard was Pollux (Sirius’s grandfather’s cousin)’s son and younger brother to Walburga. (Sirius’s mum) Pollux had another son; Cygnus who later fathered the three Black sisters; Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa. He had no other daughter besides Walburga.
> 
> In this story however, Pollux had four children instead of three. Callisto was the youngest who was born a Squib, an embarrassment to the family. So, she was disowned just like Marius Black.
> 
> The Blacks was an aged old family and it’s my believe that there was no way they would produce only 1 or 2 Squibs with how much inbreeding within the family. So, I have the disowned Black Squibs started their own Non-magical House, using the same Black name; just to spite the main house if anything else. From then, any Squibs born within the family would be ‘cast off’ from the magical branch to the non-magical one. In reverse, if the branch-family descendants ever produced a witch or wizard, they may be accepted back into the main house. It didn’t happen often but there may be some rare case. 
> 
> Whoever plays Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery might remember Ben Copper. Paloma Carrow is also an OC.
> 
> There will be several OCs scattered throughout the story until we get to Hogwarts, they won’t be that much important, however.
> 
> Let me know what you think!


	2. Years Before Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids are growing up....while author take a poke at Canon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning :: Fem!Harry. Crossover. Kind of AU. No Beta, we die like men. House-elf’s bad grammars.
> 
> A/N :: First of, thank you every review/comment/follow/favorite/kudo/sub, I have no idea this many people would be interesting in such crossover. Haha! I will try to reply to the review/comment as soon as I can. I’m working on my last semester for my Bachelor’s Degree as well as working. Sorry if I take too long sometimes! This also means I have no fixed schedule for update. 
> 
> There will be a bit of info dump in this chapter, please bear with me! Also everything written about gymnastic training and competition were found on internet. Anything I can't find I simply made them up. I apologized if this portrayal came out inaccurate. 
> 
> And there’ll be no bashing in this story, or at least I’ll try not to be. Some negative comments toward certain characters are narrators’ opinions. Most of the time, it might not be true.

**Chapter 2 :: Years Before Part 1  
Diverted Paths.**

The years passed by slowly for one Leonis Black—formally known as Tim Drake.

Too slow for his liking; even for someone like him who always saw value in being patient. Maybe his capacity for tolerance had gone down with his age being reversed after being born again. His mind might still be stuck at being late teens most of the time, but his brain was still growing like any other young child. And although, it did help him developing faster than children his age, still not fast enough to be able to do something useful.

Aunt Callisto had permanently taken both Leo and Misty into her household. His great aunt who was already in her sixty (but still looking like a woman in her forty), had never been married or planned to in the future; she had raised Leo as if he was her own son. He was practically wanted for nothing.

Callisto Black might have been disowned by the main family; her status nearly nonexistent in Magical Britain, but on the muggle side—she was practically an old-money millionaire. The Black squibs had officially found Black Co. sometimes during the 1800s; they had dappled in almost everything under the sun, agriculture, trading, manufacturing, even backing up some politicians with funding just to name a few. But since after WW2, the focus shifted toward financial and investment and it had stayed as their main focus until today. To the muggles, the Blacks family was very influential, Aunt Callisto’s connections rooted deep inside British muggle’s business, political and nobility circles. His great aunt had also kept up with the tradition and accepted both any squibs disowned by pureblood families or muggle-borns who still want to keep their connections with the muggle side; as long as they work hard and capable, they were always welcome a place within her company.

Aunt Callisto had also _anonymously_ taken over several magical farms and greenhouses that almost went bankrupt because of the war; some of those owners whom she’d liked were allowed to continue working on the farms for her. Now, those farms were major suppliers to many of the apothecaries around the British Isles. The magical world might have looked down on her as a squib, not knowing she was the one they paid their money to. 

By the time the war officially ended, Leo had already turned two. Aunt Callisto had moved them back from the hideout house they’d been staying to Nox Hall; located in Hertfordshire, the place that the Black squibs had made their home for centuries. It was a modest size English county house(still large comparing to muggle houses in this modern time), it was mixed of several styles throwing together; Tudor/Georgian/Edwardian, and Aunt Callisto herself even add a few additions with American Antebellum style into the mix, just because it reminded her of where she’d met her former lover longtime ago.

Most staffs consisted of mostly squibs and their descendants, those of whom already knew about Magic. Misty the house-elf; had fitted right in with them, no one questioned the little creature who took over most cooking duty from old Cook whose age approached retirement already. Misty was also responsible for Leo’s quarter; doing the cleaning and tidying up. Sometimes Aunt Callisto even asked the house-elf to run some errands that were wizarding world related.

Even though Aunt Callisto had several muggle-borns on her employment, none had lived permanently at the mansion. This made Leo a sole wizard child within Nox Hall, it made growing there quite interesting.

A few years after the war ended, his grandmother; Walburga had sent Aunt Callisto a letter; rudely demanding her to turn Leo over to the main family; saying that he was supposed to be raised by a _wizarding family_, not a squib. His great aunt replied with a howler of her own, telling her older sister that she could go sod off, that Sirius had _legally_ made her Leo’s guardian and Walburga could do nothing because it was her who had kicked Sirius out of the family in the first place. And nothing short of bringing the custody issue to Wizengamot was going to help his grandmother getting to Leo. Several howlers came after that until his great aunt paid a warder to redirect them away. Not that it had deterred the woman at all. Since then, every year around Leo’s birthday, Walburga would owled them about the same demand along with scantly and demeaning comments about his great aunt’s magical status. And Aunt Callisto would reply with the same answer telling her to kindly piss off.

Leo was relieved he didn’t have to live with someone as unpleasant as Walburga Black, he still shuddered at the thought that he was related at all to the woman. 

When Leo was old enough to play around with a computer, he also built himself a small hub in his room just like Barbara Gordon had taught him in his first life, securing it so that none of his activity could be traced back to him. And then had Ben Copper; his great aunt’s muggle-born assistant, putting ward stones around the area to nullify the magic; the type of ward stones that Hogwarts had around Muggle Studies classroom so that any magical devices in the same room wouldn’t interfere with his newly built computer. Once finished, he’d start on his researches not just for Hariel’s whereabout but the rest of the information of the world around him.

By the time his computer was ready, the year 2006 had already come to pass. The muggle technology of this world was still less advanced than the one he came from. But the shocking thing was that there were no Wayne Enterprise, Lex Corps, Queen Industries, not even S.T.A.R. Labs. The muggle history mostly played out similarly to his world, but there were neither superheroes nor supervillains here as far as he could search.

The was no Bruce Wayne, Richard Grayson or Barbara Gordon in this world. No Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and the Daily Planet. Leo pushed down a sense of loss in his chest. In a sense, he had hoped there might be able to see familiar faces of his old family and friends somewhere in this new world, even though Death had told him that it was unlikely.

It was a disappointment, but at least he didn’t have to worry himself with his former family and comrades in the new world, there was no danger of any supervillain trying to take over the world on daily basis. Hmm….But could this world’s Dark Lords be count as an equivalence of supervillain? Maybe the presence of magic had something to do with it? 

The adults around him were amazed. They thought him a child prodigy due to the fast rate of his child development and learning speed. He spoke full speech before he was four, learning to read and write by the age of five and by the time he was six; he had already started picking up math and secondary languages like French and Latin. And his skills in assembling and building muggle computers had just sealed the deal of his intelligence for them.

In truth though, Leo had already had those skills, to begin with, they just needed to be brushed up a little. Before Death retired him from his first life, he was already multilingual and his brain was considered by his peers to be at a genius level. He might not be as smart as Bruce but he came damn close to his surrogate father than any Robins the man had ever trained.

Aunt Callisto had showered him with all kinds of early education tutors, both the wizarding and muggle sides. Subjects like languages, etiquettes, and math covered both muggle and magical sides, they started to differ when it came to history. These were no spells casting, of course; since you’d need a wand for that. But some subjects didn’t require the use of a wand, like herbology or potion preparation, which Leo found relatively interesting. 

What he found quite lacking was the physical side of things. From what he had observed so far, witches and wizards rarely trained their bodies unless you were athletes like Quidditch players or Broom racers, Duelers trained some but it wasn’t their main focus. He’d asked Ben who graduated from Hogwarts, the muggle-born wizard confirmed that there was no class resembled P.E. in the curriculum. And from Leo’s early years, even his own father—Sirius who used to work as an equivalence of a wizarding SWAT, had no gym equipment at home at all. Leo refused to fall into the same pit trap as them. After all, it wasn’t just his mind that needed sharpening, his body should be too.

When Leo was still Tim Drake, he had started his training later than all of the Robins; Dick was trained in acrobatic since he could walk, Jason was a street kid who survived on his own before Bruce picked him up and Damian was trained by his crazy mother and League of Assassins. So, Tim Drake had to work hard to be at acceptable as the rest of them. It was full of blood, sweats, and tears. And now as Leo Black, he hadn’t wanted to waste an opportunity to get some training in early. Knowing the danger this world had presented were ducking and dodging spells were the norms, being agile and quick on your feet might as well save your life.

So, when he asked his great aunt for a martial art and acrobat trainer, she looked at him like he just sprouted two heads. She had never stopped or said anything to dissuade him from getting new tutors to expand(refresh) his skills, this was the first time she showed some reluctance.

“You’re a child, little lion. And remember that no one can return to their childhood, once it passes.” Aunt Callisto said. “Don’t forget to be one.”

But that was his problem, wasn’t it? How long was it for him to be just a child. He vaguely remembered a pleasant but lonely childhood of Tim Drake, who filled the absence of his busy parents with a dangerous hobby of stalking a pair of crime-fighters, then later became a crime-fighter himself. His life went from almost isolated to a whirlwind of craziness. Training his body, sharpening his mind, honing his skills, dealing with deranged villains and anti-heroes alike. He’d just realized that he hadn’t been able to stop until Death had forcefully taken him away.

“I’m not stopping you from doing what you want, Leo.” His great aunt assured him further. “I just want you to enjoy the moments of youth while you can, Luv. Don’t do too much, too fast. You’re only 7 after all.” 

Leo tilted his head to one side. “But I am enjoying it, Aunt Callisto.” Was he? 

His great aunt sighed and sat back in her chair. “I didn’t say anything when you chose to have private tutors rather than starting pre-school with children your age, because that’s not uncommon since most pureblood children were all homeschooled before Hogwarts. I included, even as a squib. I was still raised as pureblood until no letter came for me.” She paused to take a sip of her tea. “But you already showed me that you’re interested in muggle subjects and technology, I’d thought you might have wanted to go to muggle school.”

“You know that I wouldn’t fit in with them, Aunt Callisto. My intellectual level is higher than those of my age, after all.” Leo said calmly. And knowing kids this age, him being smarter than the rest of them would only make himself a target of bullying. And he had no desire of dealing with that rubbish. It might be a different world but human nature was still the same.

“Well, at least you don’t lack in modesty.” She said dryly and tapping her fingertips on the table. “I’m just worried about you, darling. All the interactions you have, are with people who are adults around you. And while I’m grateful you’re very mature for a child, I still think you need to interact more with children your age.”

Leo crossed his arms grimaced at the thought of going to elementary school—or in this case, primary school, again. If he did, he might have to dumb himself down to be at the same level as his peers, that was the main reason he hadn’t wanted to go in the first place.

But maybe…..this could be what he needed to further some of his plans.

Leo uncrossed his arm and sat up straight. “Let’s compromise, Aunt Callisto.”

“Oh? Let’s hear what you have to say, then.” Aunt Callisto said with a raised eyebrow.

“If you let me continue with whatever lessons I want, I will be willing to attend muggle school and do mingle with children my age. I will even try to make friends. But only if I get to choose which school I’ll be attending and only after I’ve already turned 8.” Four years acting like a kid was more than enough for him, thank you very much.

“And how do you think you’ll do that, darling? Don’t forget, the muggle school had already started.” His great aunt asked.

“Very easy. I’m sure a necessary placement test result would aid us in this case. If I scored higher than their top scorers, there’s no way they will not accept my admission. They would be stupid not to.” Leo said assuredly. 

“And, what about these classes you have been taking? You will not just abandon them, will you?”

He shook his head. “Of course not. More than half of my classes will be within the school’s curriculum, I can drop whatever appropriated when after assessing which ones I could do with self-study. As for my magical and physical training, I’ll count them as my extra-curriculum.” 

Aunt Callisto stared at him critically for several minutes. “You’re planning _something_. I know that look. I’ve seen it on your father’s face.”

“I will neither confirm nor deny that statement at this time,” Leo said with a charming smile.

She scoffed at his answer, throwing her hands up. “Fine. I will agree to this if you were also willing to go to some summer camps for children. Merlin knows you need this connection soon.”

“How about the same year I started school? I will have time to readjust my…. _attitudes_, it will be just in time for a primary school in Autumn.” He bantered. “And I get to pick which camp to be sent to.”

“Alright.” Aunt Callisto sighed once more.

Leo’s smile stretched wider, he held out this hand. “Very well. Shall we shake on this deal?”

They shook on the deal.

**: : : : : :**

A familiar pop announced the newcomer in his room. Leo opened his eyes but held his meditation pose on the floor. Meditating was one of the techniques that Dick had taught him when he had started training for Robin, one of his first lessons. It helped clear his mind and made him more aware of his surroundings. In several years he might even be able to get back to the level he used to be before his untimely death.

It also helped him gain more focus while he experienced with his underage magic. While it was still taking real concentration to summon things to him, making things floated around him or moved things without touching them, the act had no longer left him exhausted like it did when he had his first accidental magic. The range still limited, but the more he practiced the more it came to him easier and meditation was a big help.

That, as well as stacks of diaries, belonged to his father that he had found inside the trunks his father had Misty packed along with tomes and artifacts. Leo was hesitated at first about reading his father’s private thoughts but Misty had insisted that Sirius had left them for Leo, in any case, that he became unavailable, together with his own curiosity also prevailed in the end.

Leo had first thought that writing something like a diary, was somewhat out of character for someone like Sirius Black. But at the first entry; written in the summer of his fifth years around the same time he ran away from home, his father had detailed why he did something like this. Apparently, Euphemia Potter; James’s mother whom Sirius held much respected even more than own mother, had suggested writing down his thoughts and troubles as a way to reorganized his thoughts and decreased his anger. 

And Sirius was a very angry teenager, on par with Jason after his ‘resurrection’ from Lazarus Pit. His home situation had not helped at all, especially with his mother. It became worse ever since he was sorted into Gryffindor, against the Black’s tradition of being in Slytherin. From Sirius’s own words, she was a nasty, heartless, spiteful hag who cared nothing about him. Sirius’s father; Orion was too sickly too argued with his wife and instead of defending his own son, he chose to stay neutral. His father also had a younger brother name Regulas whom Walburga favored over him, she made him the heir after kicking out Sirius. But Uncle Regulas had disappeared around the same time he graduated from Hogwarts, and was presumed dead. This only spurred Walburga’s rage to an even greater height. No wonder the woman hadn’t given up on taking Leo from Aunt Callisto yet.

Aside from his home life, his father also written about school life as well as all the pranks he and his friends did. Leo learned about the dynamic within the Marauders. He learned about James Potter’s many failed attempts to ask Lily to a date. He learned that Remus Lupin was afflicted with some kind of magical illness that rendered him unavailable once a month (his father didn’t specify what it was). He had learned the bitter rivalry they had with a Slytherin named Snape, who was Lily’s former friend—until he called her a mudblood. Sirius also wrote down about the process of becoming an Animagus; the ability that allowed witch or wizard to turn themselves into an animal, the process required much concentration—to become one with your inner animal. Another reason his father had learned to express his anger into a diary, as well as learning something called Occlumency to help regulated his mind.

In there, were also some spells, jinxes, and hexes that Sirius had created or learned during school, as well as many everyday charms like Breath-cleansing spell and Sobering charm. His father also wrote some magic exercises he could do at home without using a wand. It also helped jump-start Leo’s process in strengthening and controlling his magic before he could get a wand. However, Leo could only do these exercises within the privacy of his room, and only moderation so wouldn’t exhaust himself. He’d tried not to do any underage magic around his great aunt or the squibs working around the mansion, even though they had known about magic, it was still a sore subject of many of them. 

“I is back, Master Leo!” Misty, his trusty house-elf cheerfully announced herself.

“How is everything over there, Misty?” He asked the elf.

“Those nasty muggles just moved her to a new bedroom, because little miss won a medal, she is very talented! As expected of the Great Harry Potter! The room be the smallest one but still better than a cupboard under the stairs!” Misty reported passionately. “Misty cannot believe the greatest witch Harry Potter’s room is smaller than a servant quarter!”

Leo grimaced at her words. Ever since he was old enough, he had been searching for where Albus Dumbledore had hidden away Hariel Potter. He’d kept his ears on the ground through magical sides and realized a few things; that no one knew where the Girl Who Lived had been living.

Leo purchased any books written about her, be it fictions or nonfictions; but most just used her name on some ridiculous adventure fictions, like how Harry Potter had slain a dragon and rescued a muggle royal princess, or how she battled a century-old vampire before ended up staking him in the heart. 

Did these people forget Harry Potter was not even ten years old yet? It was ludicrous! 

These books always made bestselling within wizarding communities, however. She was like the new King Arthur, every witch and wizard children knew her name, knew about her famous scar that she’d gotten when she ‘defeated’ Lord Voldemort. All pureblood boys dreamed of meeting her, and the girls wanted to be her.

But even with all these fictitious details about her supposed adventures, no one in the magical world really knew where she was. And as famous as she was, there was no way a magical family would keep quiet if they had hosted the Girl Who Lived. Aside from using vows of secrecy or Fidelius charm, there was only another explanation for this; Dumbledore had hidden her in the muggle world.

It made a lot of sense really when you think about it. Leo had seen how many ways a child celebrity turned up to be self-important, bigheaded and spoiled rotten from being raised in the limelight. Most didn’t have someone like Alfred Pennyworth to smack them upside the head to remind them to stay humble.

Dumbledore probably wouldn’t want the magical golden girl to grow up like that. So, what would be a better way to raise the most famous child in the wizarding world? Having them raised by muggles who knew nothing about them, of course! She would start her life in the wizarding world like any muggle-born children. It’s not even too late to let her know of her celebrity status when the time comes for her Hogwarts education, there would be years for her to adjust to her newfound fame.

It was a sounded logic. And it might even work.

With a new angle established, Leo started looking for Harry through the muggle records; first, he ran her name through his search algorithm against all list of children living in the orphanages and children’s homes, before moving on the foster records. Still, he could find nothing. There were no records of a child of her description and the same date of birth being fostered anywhere in England. He’d expanded his search to the rest of Great Britain, still to no avail, he had found nothing. 

He was getting frustrated at the lack of results. There was something he was missing, but what was it? Maybe he should expand his any other English-speaking countries? He’d doubted Dumbledore would go that far, letting Harry be raised outside Britain. 

Until one day, he’d heard Ben talking with his great aunt about how Lily Potter was one of the most talented muggle-born in the recent history that had graduated from Hogwarts and that the witches and wizards should have given her abilities more credit rather than just remember she was the mother of the Girl Who Lived. 

Of course! This whole time, he had been looking at the wrong place! Lily Potter, née Evans. She was the missing link. She’d grown up with a muggle family before she went off to Hogwarts! There were bound to be some records of her muggle family. Leo quickly went to work.

His search brought out several families named Evans; most didn’t even relate to one another. Evans was quite a common name in Britain after all, much like Potter. But only one Evans couple had records of a child named Lily who was born during the right timeframe.

Joseph and Rosalia Evans of Cokeworth, had two children, both girls; Petunia Danielle and Lily Josephine. The family was a normal English middle-class family. Mr. and Mrs. Evans were educators with steady incomes and a modest house. The record showed that both children attended the same local primary school with good grades before Petunia was accepted into Shrewsbury Girls’ Academy where her mother had gone to. It was a nice school but nothing noted worth mentioning. Petunia’s grades while not bad, it was still mediocre. Lily, instead of following her mother and sister, was accepted into St Honoria School for Gifted; a very exclusive private school that was invitation-only, where she thrived and was named a Head Girl before graduating. These were what was said in the public records.

Leo, however, knew for a fact that _St Honoria School for Gifted_ was nothing but a front name for the only magical school within Great Britain; Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

He found these interesting tidbits during his read of his newly purchased _Hogwarts: A History_ by Bathilda Bagshot. The book was released during the 90s and became quite a popular read for magical children before and during Hogwarts years. It had mentioned that the name of the front school was implemented after the second great muggle war.

The wizarding world was almost exposed because of Gellert Grindelwald and his ilk. After the war had come to an end, and Grindelwald was defeated (by none other than Dumbledore himself), ICW realized those muggle technologies had been leaping in advanced, risking the secrets of their society even more. The muggle governments improved their systems of records even more, and having children disappeared each year to studied magic wasn’t a good way to protect the secret, because someone would always have questions of where these half-blood and muggle-born children disappeared to.

So, the ICW implemented front names for Magical schools over the world. Together with many charms woven into the selected names, the muggles would always recognize that the said schools had always existed in their memory. That they were prestigious, exclusive schools and was very difficult to get into. Only those who already aware of Magic would realize it for what it actually was. Many of the wizards hadn’t paid any mind to this implementation, however. Some didn’t even know about it. Most purebloods hadn’t cared enough about the interests with muggles to be bothered by the topic. Only some half-bloods and muggle-borns who were affected by it.

With this fact, it supported his belief that _this_ Lily Evans was the one he’d been looking for, it confirmed that Leo had gotten the correct family. He wasted no time and dove in for a deeper search.

Sadly, both Mr. and Mrs. Evans had passed away only a few months after Lily had graduated from Hogwarts, due to a car accident. Leo turned his attention toward the only living Evans left; Petunia.

Petunia had graduated from Shrewsbury Girls’ Academy, then a typing course in London. She married a Vernon Dursley; a man she met during her short time working as an office clerk and chose to be a housewife while the husband’s working as a salesman. After her parent’s death, she sold the Evans’ old home in Cokeworth before moved to a suburbia town called Little Winging in Surrey with her husband. The Dursley also had a son within the same age as him. And they also filed for another dependent child, Petunia’s niece whom she took in after the girl’s parents’ accident. The girl’s name was Hariel R Potter.

Bingo!

Leo bet all his new shinny computer that this Hariel Potter was the same Harry Potter that he had been looking for.

But how to confirm it?

Leo had stared at the Dursley’s address for sometimes. Contemplating what he should do. He couldn’t simply barge in down the street and demanded to see the girl, could he? His great aunt, while never said no to most of his antics, wouldn’t stand for it. And if the house was truly magically-protected as Dumbledore had told them, there were bound to be some detecting wards that would alert the old wizard somehow. Not that he had anything against Dumbledore, of course. But the man went to great length to shield the girl from Wizarding influence, he wouldn’t be too happy if someone—even a squib-raised like him, suddenly showed up and befriended the Girl Who Lived.

He needed to scout the Dursley’s house and its area surrounding, as well as her home situation before he could plan any further.

The answer to his problem came in the form of his loyal house-elf.

When he’d asked her on a whim if there was a way to check of a house had any magical protection without help from professional warder or tripping the said magical ward, Misty had said that all house-elves’ magic wouldn’t trip any protection wards because most wizard-made wards would recognize house-elves’ magic as non-hostile.

Leo blinked before grinned wide at her words, before proceeded to ask his house-elf to assist him in his mission, secretly of course.

Misty eagerly agreed to help, she had also let him know that if Leo had ordered her to keep this a secret, even his great aunt couldn’t make the elf tell her anything, because Leo was first and foremost her master, therefore his words were to be obeyed before anyone else. The only person who could veto Leo’s order was Sirius who still held Misty true ownership and would be so until the time of his death, or until Sirius had bequeathed Misty to someone else.

And so, Leo had sent Misty to check out No.4 Privet Drive; home of the Dursley and Hariel Potter, with simple instruction of checking if there was any kind of protective ward around the house and what kind. To see if any wizards or squibs living in the same vicinity of them at all. Because, if Leo was Dumbledore; he wouldn’t just trust alerting ward to do its job without any supervision, there was no doubt he’d planted someone to live nearby to keep an eye on the Girl Who Lived. And lastly, to check Harry’s living condition, how she was treated at home and school. He stressed that Misty should do this secretly, he hadn’t wanted to alert any unwanted attention before he was ready.

Misty was gone for days before came back with tears in her big brown eyes. The elf cried in distress that the Savior of the Wizarding world had been living inside a cupboard under the stairs! Only to be given minimal foods in exchange for doing housework like a common house-elf, while her cousin grew fatter and fatter! Misty was simply outrage! Leo had to calm her down while pushing his own anger away from himself, enough for Misty to continue with her report.

Misty continued to list the poor treatments that Harry had received at home; cooking, cleaning and tending to the garden. Her clothes were mostly hand-downed from her large cousin or her aunt's old clothes. Only small mercy that aside from occasionally verbal abuse, neither Petunia or Vernon had resorted to physical abuse _yet_. The same couldn’t be said for her cousin; Dudley however. The boy used the fact that he was bigger than her to chase her around the neighborhood, he had his friends even made a game out of it!

It seemed it was worse than Leo had feared. He had no idea what kind of person Petunia was if Dumbledore had trusted her enough to leave Harry with this family, they couldn’t be that bad, could it? Well, either Dumbledore had no idea of what was going on, he hadn’t cared or just couldn’t show obvious favoritism.

Until Misty told him about the ward woven around the house. the elf couldn’t give him all the details, just that the main ward was a type of blood ward, using a connection between family members to enforce the protection. It was also intent-based, any witches or wizards with an intention to harm Harry would not be able to get near the house. He’d made a mental note of digging deeper into what exactly was this ward.

There was also a squib living a street over from her house, who seemed to be breeding an army of cats. No doubt, she belonged to Dumbledore. The older woman sometimes babysat Harry when the Dursleys weren’t home. Misty had told him that the woman wasn’t all there in the head, however, but at least she was still nice to Harry.

The situation of Harry’s home life greatly bothered him. Dudley Dursley was a big bully in the making while his parents had pretended absolutely nothing wrong, instead of curbing the boy’s behavior; it had shown him enough to know what kind of people Petunia and Vernon Dursley were. And if Harry was left there without any anchor, it was possible she would turn up either an emotional crippled, became a bully herself or became a sociopath. Of course, in some lucky case, she’d held on, survived, grew up to be a strong and kind person but he really didn’t want to risk it all for that, if he could help it.

Was this one of the factors that Death had told him that she had to overcome? That just seemed stupidly excessive. 

He had no way of removing Harry from the Dursley’s care without alerting Dumbledore, and maybe this was a trial she had to pass, but no one would stop him from helping her through it, wouldn’t it?

And so, he set Misty with new duties; for the elf to regularly check in on Harry. To make sure she had enough to eat, by brining Misty’s own cooking to her when she was alone with occasionally small notes contained a message from Leo, most of the time was to make sure Harry hadn’t blurted out about how the food had magically appeared inside her cupboard.

While the elf could do nothing about Dudley’s bullying without showing herself yet. She had kept her eyes on the development. It seemed Leo hadn’t need to worry too much about how Harry would survive. The girl seemed to fast and agile on her feet, a number of times Misty had reported Harry’s accidental magic had saved her from the otherwise dire situation before it escalated. Although those came with a repercussion that the Dursley would lock her up inside her cupboard without dinner for showing people her _freakishness_. It was an easy fix by Misty’s leaving the food for her. And most of the time Harry seemed to be too hungry to question where the food had appeared from. Misty always came back in tears after she’d heard the girl mumbling gratitude to her invisible feeder.

They were simply a patched job, while Leo thought of ways of helping Harry.

All these were almost two years ago. Misty had dutifully checked up on Harry after the elf had finished her works with Leo at Knox Hall. A few months later after Leo had found Harry’s whereabout again, Misty came back to excitedly report that his former playmate had sneaked inside a Gymnastic Gym during her escape from Dudley and his gang. It seemed the girl was so mesmerized with the sport she had started sneaking every chance she could get, to learn what she could before she got caught by one of the trainers.

It turned out that this female trainer had already noticed Harry since the first day. As luck would have it, she also saw some potentials from Harry and offered for her to join and be trained at their gymnastic club. Harry, of course, had refused it at first, possibly out of fear that her aunt would not allow her to join. But after this trainer had visited the Dursleys, explaining how much aptitudes Harry had toward the sport and how far she believed how far the girl would go; somehow Petunia had caved and accepted the offered, Vernon hadn’t been too happy but decided to trust his wife. Only Dudley was left sulking because his favorite _game_ had been taken away, no more Harry Hunting for him and his friends.

Whatever the reasons the woman had behind this decision hadn’t really mattered, it seemed, for now, Harry had an escaped from Dudley’s beating through gymnastic. Harry, from then started being trained in both gymnastics and as well as ballet several times a week, she took to the sport like a duck to water. Misty had happily reported that she seemed to be much happier ever since.

After a steady climb through ranks, now two years later Harry had finally come first at District Level competition. For some reason, the Dursley had rewarded her by moving her into a real bedroom; from what Misty had told him before however, it was actually their son’s spare bedroom where they left all his broken toys. All this time, they had a spare room for Harry to stay, instead, they made their own niece sleep on a cot, in a cupboard under the stairs?

It became clearer to Leo, why Petunia Dursley had agreed to let her niece joined the sport. It was nothing more than a way to make use of Harry’s talents to make the Dursley looked more accomplished. Misty had spied on Petunia and Vernon boasting about their talented but orphaned niece they had taken into their neighbors as well as Vernon’s boss and co-workers. In turn, they were praised for the goodness of their hearts for raising such a gifted girl but an unfortunate girl.

Behind everyone’s back however, Harry still had to do the same house chores while honing her body and skills. But at least, Petunia had placated his spoiled son into leaving Harry alone with newly purchased toys and videogames. Perhaps, they hadn’t wanted to paint their own son in a bad light for picking on the girl. So far, Dudley had agreed to leave her alone. And Leo was grateful for some small mercy.

“Misty left the foods for Miz Harry in her new room and she finished everything!” Misty announced happily.

Leo smiled. “She must have like your cooking, Misty.”

The elf bounced around joyfully. “Really!? Misty is happy if Miz Harry like Misty’s cooking!” the elf paused and blinked up at Leo. “Do Master Leo think Miz Harry be remember Misty from before?”

Leo’s smile froze after hearing the question. He shook his head and said gently. “I don’t know, Misty. Maybe she doesn’t even remember me, even though we practically shared playpen as often as the time had allowed.”

He doubted she could recall anything before the night of the attacks on her family. First, they had been too young then, the only reason Leo had no problem remembering everything because he had already kept his mind from his first life. And second, they had no idea what effect of surviving a death curse had done to her. How sad, now that he had thought about it, Could Harry even remember her own parents? Much less, remembering him and their time together as playmates?

The little elf wilted at hearing his words, her large ears flopped downward.

“Don’t worry, Misty. We’ll have a chance to meet face to face in the future for sure.” Leo assured the elf with a small smile. “Hogwarts is only a few years away if we hadn’t met again by then.”

That seemed to lift the elf’s spirit a little. Misty excused herself to see to her night duty, leaving Leo on his own again.

He glanced briefly at the Summer Camp pamphlets that he’d been perusing earlier and sighed. The time had come to fulfill the promise he made with his great aunt that he would join a summer camp for children. Although he’d still rather spent his summer training his body than going to a camp to make friends with people his (current)age. But this deal he had with her would help him further his plan on meeting Harry face-to-face much faster than waiting to see her at Hogwarts.

Sometimes you had to lose, to gain something in return.

Finally, Leo stood up from where he was and walked over to the pile of pamphlets. He sat down again, this time in front of it and looked down at the note he had made for different ones. He hadn’t wanted to pick those camp that was purely academic, he had gone to those kinds of camps when he was Tim Drake and they were kind of boring, he doubted being in a different world would bring any variation to it. Arts camp wasn’t his style either. That left him with sports camps or a mixture of everything.

His placement test would be conducted in late springs, he still had some time to put together necessary documents he’d need for his plans. Then, he thought about his own martial arts and acrobat training; they had been coming along nicely. The trainers had been very impressed with him already. Not that they knew how much he had been cheating. His mind might have the knowledge of how to do things, didn’t mean his body was ready for it. So, his body conditioning had been a priority. He hadn’t wanted to restrict himself too much, though. Just like his great aunt had said, he was still young and forcing your body to grow before it was ready had never been a good idea. 

Hmm….. maybe, he should try some new sport? He did want to try his hand on Fencing after all. He’d heard some pureblood children took fencing lessons because the discipline had helped when it came to the wizard duels. It might prove to be a useful skill to have, after all.

Decision made, Leo picked up several pamphlets out of the pile, these where the ones offering activity courses or classes for Fencing. Swept his eyes back and forth, hmm…that narrowed down his choices a bit.

Now…which one to choose….?

**: : : : : :**

Hariel Potter looked into the old mirror, her reflection staring back at her.

Despite the tracksuit she was wearing, she still looked more of a Hariel instead of a Harry. She always loved her nickname even though she never really knew why; maybe it was because of the dreams she had, blurry images of people calling her ‘Harry’ fondly and full of love. Something the Dursley had never given her, sure, they had accepted her into their home and at least gave her shelter, clothed her and sometimes feed her, but she knew they never held any kind of affection toward her.

Her aunt and uncle hated the nickname; they’d never called her that, but again they’d barely used her names at all. Most of the time it was Girl or Freak. Dudley took a liking to it though; for him, calling her _Harry_ worked as an insult, he loved throwing it around because it was a boy’s name. That’s why her aunt and uncle had never corrected him out of the habits. And once, they both started school, he also made his goons called her ‘Harry’.

Harry, herself though hadn’t cared about that. For her, the nickname held other meaning, she’d taken a liking to those dreams; an image of a woman with green eyes, a man with messy black hair and warm laugh, or a dark-haired man with the flying motorcycle; their faces too blurry for her to make out. She often thought that maybe somewhere out there, they were someone who knew her and would call her ‘Harry’ as warmly just like in her dreams.

Some of those dreams hadn’t been pleasant though. Sometimes, Harry remembered a flash of green light and a high, cold, laugh. She assumed it probably was the car crash that she’d survived while her parents perished, the same one that left her with a lightning bolt-shaped scar. But alas, she could not be certain.

Harry checked her reflection again, her usually untamed black hair had been pulled back, and tied into a single tail French braid, leaving only the thin patch of bangs in the front long enough just to conceal the said scar. Harry patted at the bang again, making sure her scar was properly covered; while she was no longer conscious about it, both Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon always made a face when they saw the strange shape mark on her forehead.

Dudley always made fun of it, saying the whole thing should have just covered her whole face since she was already ugly (‘Just like your name’ he said). Harry had stopped paying attention to anything her cousin had said a while ago, he was nothing but a mean pig. His words hadn’t hurt her as much as his fist did—ever since aunt Petunia had mollified him into leaving Harry alone when she took up gymnastic two years ago; her reason being now that there were people paying attention to Harry’s health, it wouldn’t leave a good _impression_ to anyone if they were to find bruise marks on her body. Aunt Petunia had to bargain with her son for a while, she ended up feeding him even more sweets and buying him new videogames and toys (the latter broke within a week of acquiring them) just to keep him happy and forget about his favorite hunting game. 

It still confused her until today about why her aunt did what she did. Letting her join gymnastic _and_ ballet was already pushing it. But persuaded her son to leave her alone? Maybe Harry really did underestimate how far her aunt would go for projecting a _normal and respectable_ family façade on.

It also helped that after Dudley no longer chased her around, the numbers of _strange incidents_ had rarely happened. Oh, they were still things here and there but nothing too obvious that would pull her aunt and uncle’s attention, not like before. And Harry had learned how to cover it all up. Even though something inside her had told her that these things weren’t a danger to her, it had saved her from Dudley many times after all.

Ever since she could remember, she could make strange, unexplained things happened; like her hair growing back overnight the way it was after a bad haircut Aunt Petunia had given her. Things would float around her if she was really angry or scared, a few times they would even fling themselves at Dudley and his friends, deterring them from his pursuit of her further. 

One time, after Mrs. Fawcett—Harry’s math teacher whose age had been near retiring, she was Harry’s least favorite from St. Grogory's Primary School, the older woman had always taken to gossiping and believes all the lies Dudley had spread around ever since they both had started school. Apparently, the old teacher thought Harry to be a troublemaker in the making because of her unemployed parents who had died from drunk driving. She had scolded her for not bringing homework again, but the fact was that Dudley had stolen her homework and turned it in as his own. She had been so angry at the old teacher for not even checking his work; anyone with eyes could clearly see that the handwriting belonged to her! Next thing everyone knew, Mrs. Fawcett’s wig turned neon blue, the whole class pointed and laughed at the teacher, sending the older woman screaming in alarm.

Harry had laughed along with everyone until Mrs. Fawcett came back to class with Headmistress Roemmele, telling her that somehow Harry had been the one who changed her wig blue. Dudley and his gang saw this as another opportunity to mess with Harry, shouted that Harry was the one who really did it. With no other witness to back Harry up, she was given detention and Aunt Petunia was called to the school.

That was the first time, Uncle Vernon had locked her in the cupboard without dinner as punishment. It hadn’t been the last either. 

Another time, she was at a store with Aunt Petunia, getting groceries, a tiny man wearing a _purple_ top hat bowed excitedly to her before moving away. Her aunt furiously interrogated her how she knew the man. Even after she denied knowing him, she was locked in the cupboard again without any food. 

This method of punishment became her aunt and uncle’s favorite. They even installed a new bolt outside her cupboard door for it. When something _strange_ occurred, she was locked in it. When she asked about her parents or his father’s family, she was locked in it. When she scored better than Dudley at school, she was locked in it.

The pattern continued in a vicious cycle, until around the time she’d turned six years old when her life started to change.

It happened right before the school session ended for that summer, after a nasty chase she had with Dudley and his friends. Harry remembered she was about to be caught and wished it with all her might to be somewhere he couldn’t catch her, next thing she knew she was on the school roof! They had to call firefighter to come to take her down, the school had also called her aunt and uncle for this. They had been furious, yelling about her freakishness and locked her in her cupboard once more.

Harry had been quietly crying, clutching her thin tummy, it was hurting again from her being hungry. She knew that crying wouldn’t help her get food. It would be better if she had just fallen asleep and forget about eating, maybe tomorrow Aunt Petunia would have forgiven her by then and allowed her some breakfast.

It was then when a smell of cooked food appeared inside her cupboard, Harry turned around to the space next to the cot she had been using as her bed. There were they were, plates of foods; roasted beef and potatoes, a large piece of bread, a tall glass of juice and a slice of chocolate cake.

Harry’s green eyes went wide at the sight. She sat up from her cot and move closer to the meal sitting there. Had Aunt Petunia forgiven her and brought her food after all? No, she remembered that the Dursley had lamb chops for dinner tonight, not roasted beef. Harry reached forward and pushed at the cupboard door experimentally, testing if they were opened, only to find it was still locked—from the outside! Then how had these foods come to be here?

It was like Mag—no, she shouldn’t use the M-word in this house, Uncle Vernon had stressed _very_ often.

Her tummy growled loudly from the delicious smell had brought her out of her musing. Harry scooted closer to the meal sitting there, using her small hand to poke the piece of bread. It was still warm! That was when she noticed a piece of note laid there between two plates.

_‘Enjoy the food when it’s still warm.’_ Was what written in beautiful handwriting, much like the one's Mrs. Beal; her English teacher had taught them to write at school, unlike her own chicken scratch, or illegible scribble of Dudley. The note hadn’t said who sent these foods to her. Another loud growl came from her again, Harry bit her lip. Her hands starting to shake from the hunger. 

_What if it was Magic? Who cared where these foods came from!?_ Harry thought to herself as she reached forward and picked up the warm bread. As soon as she took a bite, the tastes exploded in her mouth, and in less than a minute the whole piece disappeared. Harry quickly moved on to the plate full of roast beef and potatoes, she didn’t even notice the streaks of a tear falling from her green eyes, she was too busy filling herself with delicious foods.

Ten minutes later, the foods were cleared off the plate, Harry had finished everything and stacked the dishes together.

“Thank you for the foods, whoever you are.” She mumbling to no one, not even felt silly about doing it. The foods were much more tasteful than what her aunt usually cooked, she could taste more seasoning in it; something Aunt Petunia hadn’t liked and Uncle Vernon could never stand too strong tastes unless they were sweet, so they always ended up with mostly bland or sweet foods.

Exhaustion decided to finally set in that moment, her eyes started to droop as she yawned. Too tired to think about what to do with the empty plates, she’d leave that until the morning; she would wash everything after her aunt had unlocked the door. Harry slid down onto her cot, pulling the thin blanket over herself. Less than five minutes, she was dead to the world.

Harry woke the next day to her aunt’s banging on the cupboard door, telling her to get up and started working on breakfast. She quickly untangled herself from the blanket when she recalled the stack of empty plates by her cot. But when she turned around and decided to hide them before she could get a chance to properly wash them, only to find that there was nothing there! Even the note was gone!

Harry stared at the spot; eyes wide. Had she dreamed it all in her head? No, there was no lingering ache from her tummy like every time she had missed dinner, in fact, she was still little full. 

“Get up, you lazy girl!” Her aunt’s screeching had brought her out of her head. Harry pushed away from her bewilderment aside for the moment, it’d never ended well to have her aunt screamed for her the third time. 

From that day on, every time the Dursley had locked her inside the cupboard without dinner or whenever Dudley had taken the food from her plate—leaving her with nothing but a few greens, there would always be a hot and delicious meal waiting for her in her cupboard. Most of the time, they appeared without any note, but sometimes like Christmas or her birthday, there would always be a short message left with the foods. Harry made sure to say thanks to her invisible friend every time.

They still appeared even after she had started on gymnastic training.

At first, Harry had been worried that her aunt wouldn’t pay any attention to the diet preferences her new trainer had given her—to help gain the necessary muscles she said. And just as she’d feared, her aunt all but threw the list out because if she couldn’t do the sport as she is, then she wouldn’t do it at all. Harry had dug out the list from the rubbish bin and pinned it on her cupboard wall afterward. For a sentimental reason, if anything.

To her surprise, after her first official day of training, there was a meal waiting for her; grilled chicken breast with herbs seasoning, roasted green vegetables and carrots, warm milk and a bowl of fruits for dessert. And from that day on, the foods also appeared every evening, all cooked according to the list she had pinned it to the wall.

And since then, Harry had no longer cared if Dudley stole all food at dinner. Every day in the evening, there would be a meal waiting for her, delicious and warm as well as correctly selected just as Her trainer’s list had suggested. Some days when she couldn’t finish all of the food, the leftover would be packed up neatly, waiting by her school bag to eat the next day. 

Whoever that fed her, obviously had been studying the list. The food varied from meal to meal. But the diets were correctly done according to her trainer’s specifications.

With her daily intake of healthy food, her body finally starting to correct itself. She was still thin but no longer bony, the lean muscles she had gained from doing both gymnastic and ballet six days a week had helped keep her body lithe and slim. She might still be small for her age but she was no longer the shortest one in their year. Ballet had help with her posture, she’s no longer slouching around, trying to make herself as small as possible.

Dudley might have left her alone most of the time, his friend still found amusement in chasing her sometimes. Until she’d found her escape at the library during school days. They’d never ventured in there at all. It where she quietly ate her lunch, doing the day’s homework and if she had time, do some reading. Mrs. Colby—the librarian; hadn’t liked her eating there at first, but after finding out why Harry avoided the canteen, the older woman just sighed and allowed her to have her lunch there as long as there was no grease left on the books. After school and weekends was time she spent at Whitley-Hale Gymnastics Club, where she vigorously trained herself.

In truth, when she was younger, Harry had her first glimpse of the sport from the competition that was broadcasting on the TV while scrubbing the kitchen floor for Aunt Petunia. As Harry watching an Asian gymnast doing flips and leaps on a narrow piece of wood, she had never known someone could be graceful and strong at the same time keeping balance on a beam.

“You have the same look on your face as your mother,” Her aunt’s voice startled her from watching the TV, then suddenly realized her mum was mentioned, a very rare thing her aunt did. Harry almost snapped her neck toward Aunt Petunia who stood a few feet away, hands holding straw hat and clipping scissors, she had a sneer on her face as hey light eyes fixed on the screen for a moment.

“_Perfect_ little Lily Flower, my parents used to call her.” Aunt Petunia spat out the words as her glare drifted toward Harry. “She used to do that sport, you see. Before she went off and met your _useless_ father. My parents always praised how great and talented she was. And look where it got her!”

Harry had been too young to understand the ramification of her aunt’s words back then. The only thing she had gotten from it was that her mother used to do this beautiful sport. Harry started daydreaming that one day she would be able to do it too, just like her mother had done before her.

The number of times her Aunt had talked about Lily; Harry’s mother. She could count within her two hands. Every time it was full of scoffs and sneers. The resentment was plain to see. Both Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had never had a nice thing to say about them. Always calling them with words like ‘Useless’, ‘Freaks’, ‘Bums’ or ‘Drunkards’, most of those she had no idea what they meant. Harry hadn’t understood when she was younger and made a mistake of asking Petunia about her parents, she turned out to be a big mistake. But she was curious, she didn’t even know what her parents looked like because there was no picture of them at the Privet Drive at all;

“What is there to know? She was a _freak_! The same goes for your drunkard of a father!” Her aunt screeched. “And you are just like her! You have all his looks, that dreadful mob you called hair!” she paused in her sneer, glaring down at Harry who shrunk into herself. “Oh, but you have her eyes. Yes, those infuriating green eyes!!”

Of course, Harry made no mistake like that ever again. She’d treasured the image of green eyes woman and a dark-haired man in her young heart. And the little breadcrumbs of information she’d picked up from her aunt and uncle. And Gymnastic was one of the things she held her hope on that someday, she’d have a chance to do what her mother did.

And then Whitley-Hale Gymnastics Club had been opened that same summer her invisible friend started feeding her. Harry had been running away from Dudley’s gang as per usual, it was summer and they had been playing their favorite game of ‘Harry Hunting’. The gym was close to walking distance from Privet Drive and Harry’s school and also sat opposite a playground that Dudley and his friend frequented. It was new and had just been opened less than a month, Harry hadn’t thought too much about where the place actually was, she’d just wanted to get away from her bullies and quietly slid her thin body through the door.

And froze at the sight of older girls flipping through the air.

Harry’s eyes widened, her heartbeat loudly in her chest as she spied on the girls working on separate stations on different apparatus. While the adults telling them to correct their postures. She spotted the same thin beam that she saw a while ago. Her heart swelled at the possibility of learning the same sport her mother did, but suddenly stuttered to a stop once she saw the membership fee. Harry was almost in tears, there was no way her aunt and uncle would pay for her to have anything, they’d barely bought her clothes as it was. Most were Dudley’s hand-me-downs; anything resembled a dress was second-handed from Aunt Petunia and Uncle’s Vernon’s sister; Marjorie. The only relatively new things were her school uniforms and that was already pushing it.

So, Harry had decided; she still needs a place to hide from Dudley, so she might as well try to learn by watching! Not the smartest idea she had but it was the only one she could think of at the moment. she would leave Privet Drive after finishing all her chores and snuck inside the gym, stay there by the empty stands all day to spy on the younger student class. No one had found her out, until a week after when one of the coaches caught her trying to do a bridge pose.

At first, Harry was terrified they were going to yell at her and kicked her out, or worse; call her aunt. Instead, the lady who had caught her had brought her over to one of the mats where the younger girls had been working on and told her to try that pose again, and then all other moves she had learned from spying.

Ms. Yu—an Asian lady who had caught her, must have seen something in her because she had let her stay until the end of the day, even lent her a spare leotard for her to change into before continued to instruct her where her limps should be. When the day was over, Ms. Yu offered for her to join the club.

At first, Harry had refused, saying that her guardians would never pay for the fee, even though her heart clenched at the thought of the possibility. Ms. Yu stared at her a while before telling her that she’d talk to her guardian for her before proceeded to drive her home to Privet Drive—even though the house was a walking distance away.

Once there, Ms. Yu had asked to talk to Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon—who also happened to be home. Her aunt had stared at the petite woman who had intruded on her home before realizing where she was working at, and politely (if a little force) invited her inside before shooing Harry away.

She had no idea what was said that day, maybe Ms. Yu’s persuasion skill was top-notch, or her aunt had a small kindness in her heart—no possibly the former. But Harry hadn’t cared, her aunt had agreed to let her do gymnastics! It was all that matters! 

From then on, she took gymnastic 4 times a week, but Ballet class only twice a week since it wasn’t her main focus, with one rest day; where she also spent helping around the gym. The trainers were more than glad of her helping out. They were a new club after all. While gymnastics wasn’t as popular a sport like football, cricket, field hockey, or tennis but the number of people participating was still quite high, especially girls from middle-class families who wanted some athletic prestige to their names and didn’t have a taste for tennis or field hockey.

Even though the club had been a newly established one, having less famed veterans to their names, it still came with a good reputation because of the coaches there. Both owners as well as coaches; Mary Jane Whitley and Barbara Hale had competed in Summer Olympics some years back during the 80s. While they hadn’t won Great Britain any medals, that was still high accomplishment enough to warrant the influx of students wanting to join. Yu Tanaka—or as Harry called her Ms. Yu; a former Japanese gymnast who was forced to retire early due to injury, was the one who had given Harry a chance instead of kicking her off the property.

She threw herself into the training, finally starting from a fundamental level, instead of the ‘Money see, Monkey do’ she had been doing. Harry had to play catch up with the rest of her peers though. Her whole posture needed to be changed, she could no longer slouch around. All the strength and core training was surprisingly tough but she’d pushed through. Ballet had been difficult on her feet at first but it helped her keeping balance and her body flexible. It also taught her the rhythm of music, she no longer had two left feet when it came to dancing; Ms. Yu had suggested that to later when she’s older she could always drop ballet and took other types of dancing class to _further her artistic sense_ instead. Perhaps, Jazz or Modern Dance—Ms. Yu said. Though Harry highly doubts Aunt Petunia would ever allow her to go further, Ballet was already pushing it.

A few girls who also went to St. Grogory's Primary remembered Harry for being a troublemaker who always wore secondhanded clothes, they sneered their distaste at her. Harry simply ignored them. It was already a miracle that Aunt Petunia had allowed her to join the sport, she wasn’t going to let someone stand in her way of enjoying it!

The training was grueling and hellish. But also challenging and fun at the same time. Harry would endure every single thing if it meant this connection between her and her mother lived on.

Time passed, at almost age of Eight, Harry had finally won something worth mentioning, according to the Dursley. Oh, she had been steadily climbing the ranks within her age group at the club, of course, but this was the first time she ranked first at a meet that had several different clubs in surrey competed.

Uncle Vernon even used that to brag about with his boss and co-workers, the same went for Aunt Petunia and her gardening club. Because as much as they seemed to hate her existent, Harry still brought about a decent reputation for them. Meanwhile, Dudley, who was larger and bigger than her, had no inclination toward sports at all. His grades could barely pass these days because he couldn’t steal Harry’s homework anymore. The teachers at school could barely curb his bullying habit, the only teacher who favored Dudley was old Mrs. Fawcett; who still hated Harry with passion for allegedly changing her wig color a few years back.

So, Harry became the only saving-face factor for the Dursley both at school and the neighborhood. They all knew how bad Dudley’s behaviors were, while Harry was quiet and polite. Some people living on the same street even said they’d be cheering her on at the next competition! Her reputation improved quite a lot at school. The girls who shared the gym with disliked her still but since Harry had skills to back it up. They could do nothing but grumbled and whined to their parents.

If she had been born a few months early though, she could compete at something bigger but she needed to be at least 8 years old for compulsory grade or level, so it seemed next spring would be an important mark in her career. Ms. Yu told her not to hurry too much too soon, her coach had wanted her foundation to be as strong as possible, that meant perfecting every little detail possible.

This was the reason for her current nervousness. Because this summer she wouldn’t be able to do training at the gym at all.

A few days after she’d won the meet, Ms. Yu had approached her with a piece of grievous news. Apparently, Whitley-Hale Gymnastics Club had received a large sum of donation not too long ago, so both owners thought it would be the time to finally renovate and expand the gym; bringing in new equipment, adding in a few dancing studios so that the club could offer more than Ballet class to its members. All in all, it sounded great. But the problem was that during the renovation, the gym needed to be closed.

It wouldn’t be too much of a problem for most of the club’s members, because more than half of the students already had plans that weren’t involved in training at the gym. Believe it or not, summer months were the slowest time of the years. Many of the students had other engagement elsewhere—to train exclusively elsewhere, to take the time for R&R before diving back to fall competition, some just wanted a vacation from all the training. Not everyone was dependent on the gym like Harry was. It was where she spent all her time now, both on and off training.

But now that the place would be closed for several weeks!! Where would she go to escape Dudley and his thugs?!

Her panic was short-lived however, Ms. Yu had suggested for her to join a summer camp, many sport-focused camps would help her occupied her time and maybe she could even pick up some new techniques from different trainers.

It was great, in theory. In practice though, there was no way her aunt and uncle would pay for any of it, especially not for Harry. They’d already been _kind_ enough to finally moving her from her cupboard to Dudley’s second bedroom as a reward for ranking first at the meet. And all of the gymnastics camps available on Ms. Yu’s list cost more than all of her possessions put together. She’d told her coach as much, the Asian woman looked almost exasperated; while Harry had never told her the full detail on her home situation, Ms. Yu was smart enough to speculate the truth out of all the interactions she had with the Dursleys. But since there was no evidence of physical abuse, there was nothing her coach could do.

So, Ms. Yu had assured Harry that she would work something out, maybe find a sponsor for her to pay the camp fee, it would be a little difficult since Harry hadn’t passed any grade or level just yet. But Ms. Yu had said that she would try. Meanwhile, they would keep the news of the gym’s temporary closing a secret from the Dursleys for now.

A few days later, her coach had finally come through with something for her.

As it turned out, Ms. Hale knew someone who ran this camp and was able to secure her a spot for a discount. The camp located at Worchester, running from mid-July to mid-August. This camp targeted overall activities for children from ages 5-11, the activities available included several sports such as football, tennis, fencing, gymnastic to name a few; performing arts like dancing and drama; academic courses were also offered. The camp organizers would encourage the campers to try experiencing something new at their camp, and they could mix and match their courses as needed.

While it wasn’t a gymnastic specialized camp, she could still try her hand on the dance class. she hadn’t taken any other kind of dance aside from Ballet; Aunt Petunia refused to pay for anything relating to her more than necessary. This would be a good opportunity to get some lessons in!

But came the hard part—How to convince her aunt and uncle to pay for it, even with a discount, they still had to spend money on her. Ms. Yu had a big smile on her face and informed Harry to leave the matter to her. On that same evening, Ms. Yu visited No.4 Privet Drive after Harry’s session ended. She could see Aunt Petunia’s lips twitched at the request for a talk, possibly recalling the last time her Asian coach had a visit and the Dursleys ended up letting Harry join a gymnastic club.

Aunt Petunia shooed Harry away toward the kitchen before leading Ms. Yu toward the living room. Dudley was nowhere to be seen but the noise coming from his room would indicate that he’s probably playing a videogame. Harry tiptoed to the connecting door between the kitchen and dining room, she couldn’t get closer to eavesdrop without being seen but from her spot, she could see Ms. Yu who sat opposite both her aunt and uncle. From the look of it, they didn’t even offer her coach a refreshment. Harry could spy the tightness on Uncle Vernon’s face, he looked constipated but again, he looked like that most of the time. Aunt Petunia barely contained her disdain, her eyes fixed at the coffee table in front of her instead of Ms. Yu who spoke animatedly.

They stayed like that for a while; Ms. Yu talking chirpily one-sided while her aunt and uncle looked more and more annoyed. In the end, her uncle had yelled for her to come to the living room. Harry forced herself not to sprint toward them, her heart hammering in her chest.

To her astonishment, Ms. Yu announced that her aunt and uncle had agreed to pay for the camp, the petite woman had all but shoved the camp pamphlet at Aunt Petunia’s unwilling hands before saying goodbye to the Dursleys.

“You will finish the chore in the garden for your aunt before that camp starts, Girl!” His finger pointed accusingly at her, Uncle Vernon all but hollered after Ms. Yu had left. “Get out of my sight! No dinner for you!”

“Yes, Uncle Vernon.” Harry forced herself not to grin. She hadn’t cared about her dinner for a long time, knowing her invisible friend would leave something delicious for her to eat like always.

And that brought her to this moment.

Harry checked her reflection for the last time, making sure there was not a hair out of place and her bang covered her scar. She dressed in her usual black and red tracksuit showing Whitley-Hale Gymnastics Club logo on her back. All her stuff packed neatly inside Dudley’s old neon pink hold-all bag; the bag was a little scruffy with broken zipper in the front but the rest of the bag’s condition was still usable, Dudley had only used this bag once when he went to stay with Piers Polkiss, and after the front zipper broke, he threw the bag away screaming, demanding for a newer and better one. Aunt Petunia all but dumb the bag on Harry. The rest of her essentials were stuffed inside her old backpack.

Harry looked down at the clock at her table it showed 8.55, only a few more minutes before her leaving time. The Dursleys would drop her off at St Pancras Station in London where the camp bus would pick her up. And They would take this opportunity to visit and stay with Uncle Vernon’s sister; Marge who lived in the countryside Essex, since Uncle Vernon’s boss had received a paid vacation from his boss.

She left a small note on her desk for her invisible friend saying that she would be gone for a month, while she’d no doubt they might be able to know about her being gone already, it still would be rude to leave without telling them, right?

“You better get down there soon, Girl! Or we’re leaving without you!” Her aunt banged on her bedroom door, accompanied by loud noises from the next room; Dudley’s shouting that he couldn’t close his bag. Harry had no doubt it was because he tried to stuff every game console that he owned in there. Her aunt’s voice moved away, possibly to suit Dudley’s whining.

Harry shook her head before hefted her bags on her shoulder, making sure the note was there where it should, before making her way out of the room, ignoring Dudley’s temper tantrum from the next room and her aunt cooing in attempt to placate him.

It wasn’t for half an hour later until they left the Privet Drive. Harry and Dudley sharing the backseat of the car, she tried to ignore the feeble attempt of her cousin trying to kick her legs, turned out Dudley’s was too heavy to maneuver in tight space without hitting himself. After a while, he had given up and turned his attention to the snack bag in his hands instead. 

Harry watched the outside scenery passed her by, her heart full of unexplained excitement and apprehension. Something in her telling her that something important would happen at this camp. She just didn’t know what it could be. But as long as she would be away from the Dursleys for a while, even only a month, it was already enough to lift her spirit in a better mood.

**: : : : : :**

The Dursleys didn’t even check this was the right place for the pickup spot, they only dropped her off with her bags and drove away as fast as they were able. And Harry herself was too happy to be away from them, she hadn’t cared about the little details.

St Pancras was one of the busiest stations in London, since it also provided service for Eurostar, it also not too far away from King’s Cross Station. Harry looked down at the pamphlet information on her hand once more, it said that she didn’t need to go inside the station at all, instead, she had to look for a pickup place with a bus waiting outside. Harry looked up at the big clock tower, there was still almost two hours to spare before the bus would leave, she still had plenty of time to spare.

So, Harry took this opportunity to take in the sight. She rarely had the chance to see London after all. Before she started training at the club, the Dursleys always left her with Mrs. Figg and her army of cats whenever they’d wanted to go somewhere like London and not wanting her like a tag-along.

A half-hour later after leisurely strolling around, Harry found the meetup spot, no one could miss it with someone in holding the sign, waving and calling out loud for any campers, not to mention a bright yellow bus parking nearby. There were already children there waiting with their parents. A large pile of luggage not too far away from the seats. Several people in the yellow t-shirt walked around interacted with the waiting parents.

“Are you here for the Grimditch Summer Camp?” A man looking to be the same age as her coach, asked kindly when Harry approached with her bags. She nodded back her reply. He smiled and pointed toward a makeshift desk where two others in the same yellow t-shirt sitting. “The check-in is over there, just tell them your name and show your issued IDs, they will set you up with tags for your bag. After tagging them you can leave the bags over there,” he pointed toward the pile of luggage. “Someone will take care of them for you.”

“Thank you, sir,” Harry replied politely.

“Not a problem, sweetheart.” He chirped before turned away from her, talking to new people approaching.

Not wanting to waste time, Harry went to the said table as she was instructed. There was someone already standing there hunching over a table to write something, a tall boy wearing expensive-looking clothes, a stylish black and grey Nike gym bag; Harry noticed that bag right away only because it was the same model she’d been drooling over in sports magazine not too long ago, sat by his feet. A woman was telling him something as he finished writing. 

“Name and receipt, please.” The other woman sitting at the desk, asked her when she arrived at the desk.

“Hariel Potter, ma’am.” She told the lady and handed in her student ID along with a transaction slip; the one that her uncle had grudgingly gave her after they went to pay for her camp fee. The lady took the paper to confirm her identification and looked down at the list in front of her.

“Your name’s Hariel Potter?” A voice asked her out of nowhere. Harry blinked upon hearing the question before realized that it was the boy who owned that Nike bag. She hadn’t really paid attention to him closer than the expensive clothes and bag, but now that she turned to look at him fully; The boy had short black hair and startling grey eyes. His skin slightly tanned, his face even prettier than most girls Harry had met. He was tall for his age, maybe a few years older than her?

“Is your name really Hariel Potter?” The boy asked again, his grey eyes staring almost intensely at her, the gaze flickered up toward her forehead for a moment but quickly slid back to her eyes.

“Um….yes?” Harry said nervously, unsure at why the boy would know her name. There was no way she was _that_ well-known yet within a gymnastic circuit.

At her answer, a smile stretched across the boy’s face, it was lopsided that brought out a deep dimple under the corner of his mouth, his whole face brightened. Harry forced herself not to blush at the sight.

“I know your parents.” The boy simply said.

Harry stared, eyes-wide at him. Whatever his reason for knowing her name, it wasn’t that! “What—”

“Here we are, Miss. Potter!” The lady who took her IDs called out before the conversation could go further. “These are the tags for your bags, an—” 

“Let’s talk when you’re done. I’ll wait for you over there.” He pointed over at the spot where everyone left their bags and luggage. And without waiting for her reply—walked away before she could say anything.

“—forget to keep this slip with you, you’ll need it again when you reach the camp. Also please sign here!” Harry blinked and snapped her head back to the talking woman; her IDs were trusted back together with yellow bag-tags. She grabbed the offered pen and hastily scrawled down her name, took back her IDs and tags; shoving both inside her jacket pocket, mumbling her thanks, and quickly made her way toward the boy, barely heard a well-wishing ‘Have a good day!’ from the woman.

As Harry shuffled her legs away from the check-in desk, she felt like the first time she competed in a meet. Was he telling the truth? Or just joking around? He couldn’t be much older than her, right? If what he said was true, how did he come to know her parents then? She paused in her step for a moment, looking toward the dark hair boy; watched him lifted his already tagged gym back into the pile of luggage. The sense of vertigo hit her full-force, and she had trained that out of her for a while now, she kind of needed to when she trained almost every day to do stunts like flipping in the air or doing a pirouette on uneven bars.

Joking or not, it never hurt to try, right? If it turned out to be just a jest, then nothing had changed, she would still know only breadcrumbs that her aunt and uncle dropped here and there. But if it was real, then…. maybe she would know more about her parents than before a little more than before!

Like Nike’s slogan, right? _Just Do it!_

Harry adjusted the bags on her body, took a deep breath and exhaled through the nose. Steeling herself one last time, she marched over to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PS :: Ehh, I’m sorry to end it with cliffhanger! But if I don’t chop it off here then, it will keep going for a while. I’ll try to keep words around 12k-15k per chapter, I’m a firmed believer in posting long chapter rather than a short one. And since I don’t have any fixed update schedule, just trying to get each chapter out when it’s best condition I can.  
My twitter is astachan14 I sometimes post how far along the next chapter will go. Check it out if you want, or you can come simply say hi, I promise I don’t bite. Haha!


	3. Years Before Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boy schemes to make Canon his B*tch. More at Eleven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer :: Same as Chapter 1.
> 
> Warning :: Fem!Harry. Crossover. Kind of AU. No Beta, we die like men. My grammar is as bad as house-elf.
> 
> A/N :: Once more thank you for all the comments/reviews/sub/like/fav/kudos/bookmarks! I’ll try to get a reply going once I finish posting this chapter! Sorry for the wait. Work got busier, I barely had time for anything else. Then, around the end of the year, my sister bought us Trails of Cold Steel Series, so we marathoned all 3 games back to back. That was brutal but sooooo worth it! And last week, my left hand got hurt, I had to get some stitches. Ugh….let me tell you, getting anesthetic shot twice in your knuckles is not fun! I’m still hurting afterward as I edit this chapter. 
> 
> There’re some people who didn’t like the amount of words per chapter, well I’m sorry. Even though nothing happens much in a chapter, things could be short but it isn’t, there’re still details I’d like to include. I could call it my style of writing. As I said, read at your own peril.
> 
> I’m taking liberty with my version of the wards around 4 Privet Drive, so they’re a little bit different from the canon. Any negative comments toward certain characters are just that—opinions. I’m trying not to bash any characters.
> 
> The timeline in the story right now is July 2008.

**Chapter 3 :: Years Before Part 2  
Fate or Chance?**

Leo wanted to curse his earlier tactlessness. How could he have just blurted out something like that!? He blamed all his irrational acts on the unexpected meeting with Hariel Potter.

He hadn’t planned to meet her until Autumn this year when new school term starting. And after he had it all planned out!

His Eighth birthday had come and gone since December. After New Year passed, his great aunt had been giving him stacks of Summer camp brochures. It was this year that he had agreed with his great aunt to attend muggle school and putting effort into making friends around his age. Several elite prep schools had sent their offers for him to join; because of his great aunt’s connections, even without caring for his placement-test scores. He had flatly refused them all, of course. He told Aunt Callisto that, if they hadn’t cared about his score then they hadn’t been invested in his academic enough. He had no wish to be a pawn piece for them to gain any favor with his great aunt. His reply had both amused and annoyed her. But since she had promised him his choice in school, she had no say in it.

When spring came, Leo finally took the placement-test. He scored much higher than his age group’s average, just enough to be seen as smarter than his peers but not enough to skip grades. Once the test score arrived by post, Leo filled out all required documents for St Grogory's Primary Admission before sent them out by post again. A week later, the acceptance letter came. Leo presented it along with all the relevant papers about his chosen school as well as his other plans revolving around it to his great aunt.

Aunt Callisto read every page in the file he’d presented with before lifted her gaze, looking at him with her sharp grey eyes. “After all that kerfuffle, and this is what you chose? A tiny school in _Surrey_?” she set the spread folder down, sat back on her seat, suspicious in her eyes. “Do you even know _where_ Little Whinging even is?” 

“Yes, it’s a small suburb town, north of Surrey.” He told his great aunt with a charming grin. Her eyes narrowed further like a hawk watching its prey. If he hadn’t been subjected to ‘Bat-Glare’ for many years in his first life, Leo might have squirmed under her scrutiny.

After another long minute flipping the pages, she peered down at the papers again. “These business proposals and housing arrangement, are you sure these are what you want?”

“Yes, Aunt Callisto.” His smile still in place but he steeled his voice. His great aunt simply looked back at him.

“You’re a smart boy, Leo. Just like your father. And while your pieces of advice had been bringing us many potential investments, this one just seemed out of place. Even I could see no profit in it.” He opened his mouth to defend his plans but was cut off by his great aunt’s halting hand. “I might not be the one who raised Sirius, but I’ve known him long enough to recognize how he schemed his mischief. So, you tell me honestly, Leonis Timotheus Black. What have you found in Little Whinging, Surrey?” 

Leo winced at the use of his full name; he hadn’t wanted to involve his great aunt in this stage of planning just yet. But it seemed she caught on to him. Ah well….

“Hariel Potter.”

Aunt Callisto blinked owlishly at his word. “I beg your pardon? I thought you just said _Hariel Potter_.”

“I did.” Leo exhaled through his mouth and repeated his answer. “I found Hariel Potter. She’s living in Little Winging, Surrey.”

His great aunt’s grey eyes widened, she gasped loudly. It took her a full minute to collect herself. “Tell me everything!”

And so, Leo told her _almost_ everything, like how he found Harry by looking for Lily Potter’s remaining family on the muggle side; an older sister, and how Harry had been living with Lily’s said sister. How Petunia Dursley and her family had been treating her niece. He told her about how he had been sending Misty to bring meals to Harry _in secret_ because of her family’s negligence of feeding her. And how Harry found an escape from her bullying cousin through gymnastics. He left out some details, of course. Such as the state of Harry’s former bedroom, or how often Dudley Dursley and his gang beat and chased her at school until recent years.

As he’d expected; Aunt Callisto had been absolutely furious. She’d wanted to storm Little Whinging and take away Harry from her horrid family until Leo informed her about a squib living a street over from Harry’s place; possibly placed there by Albus Dumbledore to keep eyes on Harry, as well as any witches or wizards who appeared in the area. He also filled her in about wards surrounding the house itself. There was a possibility of the wards being triggered and alert whoever it was that set them up by removing Harry from the house. These wards needed to be examined by professionals, so they could be identified what kind they were and what effects would be. That’s why this needed to be approached carefully.

“Did that old wizard knows all this and still leaving that poor girl living there with those horrible people?!” His great aunt almost roared in rage.

Leo, being used to her occasionally outburst of temper, without even flinching, voiced his own opinion. “I can’t really say. But if I have to guess, he didn’t know about it. He’s a _busy wizard_, after all, the man has three full-time jobs. But I don’t think Arabella Fig was all there. Misty and Ben helped me dug up details about her. She was married to a wizard before the war. She survived a Death Eater’s attack but her husband was killed. She hasn’t been the same since. I think Dumbledore’s placing her there was to help her find some kind of purpose again, along with keeping eyes on Harry. She even babysat Harry from time to time.”

His great aunt hadn’t been happy but agreed to hear him out about the plans he had. And now that she was brought into the folds, it might help to make things go smoother than Leo trying to do everything himself (even with Misty’s help). A number of things were put in motion at once after he had laid out his plans to her. Like finding a suitable house to stay during his time attending St Grogory’s. and hiring a discreet enough professional warder to come and check out the wards, without being seen by the spying squib—however incompetent she seemed to be. 

And so, Leo continued on with his plans, but also keeping the promise to his great aunt by going to a summer camp for children. He picked a camp that wide-ranged in activities called Grimsditch; offering several types of sports facilities, as well as starter classes for languages and some performing arts classes. Also, the founder of this camp was actually a squib who had been in business with his great aunt for quite some time. There, he would be able to mix and match any activities to his liking.

The work on inspecting the wards around Number 4 Privet Drive would start right after Aunt Callisto had dropped him off at St Pancras in London. Their driver would drive her to Surrey to meet with the warders she’d hired in Little Whinging while Leo spent his time at the camp. Misty had confirmed that the Dursleys would be away from the house for at least a month to visit Vernon’s sister, at the same time that Hariel was away at summer camp during the time her gymnastic club was being renovated.

He just didn’t expect they would end up at the same summer camp! That wasn’t what he had planned at all!

“So, who are you?”

A melodic voice cut the line of his thoughts short. Leo turned around to see Hariel Potter standing there, still carrying her bags. Leo finally really looked at her, he blamed the excitement earlier making him lost the control of his mouth and brain temporarily and forgot to observe her. If he was still Robin, he would be scolded by Batman already for failing to asset the opposition (person) in front of him within the first meeting.

The shape of her face still retained the delicateness, but he could still see the sharp angles of the Potters’ traits. Though the chubbiness was gone due to the aging as well as years of malnutrition; something, Leo and Misty were trying to fix, but the innocent youthfulness still hadn’t completely disappeared. He had been worried that Harry would turn out to be spiteful or sullen from the Dursley’s treatment of her, but from what Misty had told him, a spark of carefreeness and mischief were still present behind the guarded expression.

Her jet-black hair was pulled into a tight braid down her back, left only a lock of bang long enough to cover her forehead. Misty had reported about the Dursley couple’s loathing to Harry’s scar being visible in public; how they always had her covered her forehead when being out the presence of other people—so, no one would ask the ‘awkward’ question about how Harry had gotten it. The red and black tracksuit was a size bigger than her, but the club logo on it indicated that it wasn’t one of Dudley or Petunia’s castoffs, possibly club issued that was given to her when she joined. She possibly picked a size bigger than hers, in hope that she’d grow into it. The pair of grey-border-lining-on-brown trainers were worn and old though, obviously that she’d been wearing them for years now; he was surprised they still fitted.

Her body languages radiated nervousness; the fidgeting of her feet, her clenched fists on the straps of her bags, lip biting. But it was her green eyes that showed the obvious emotions most of all; anxiety, apprehension, but also curiosity. If he was in a different situation, he might have chuckled. Even after years of being apart from the most memorable part of Hariel Potter, it was the same almond-shaped green eyes and inquisitiveness she’d gotten from her mother.

“Leo Black.” He smiled sincerely and offered his hand. Harry stared at it in surprise as if no one had offered her a handshake before. She took his hand reluctantly, squeezed it for a couple of seconds before withdrawn back just as quick. A pang of disappointment flashed inside his chest. So, she really didn’t remember him, huh? Pushing the feeling away, he gestured toward her bags. “Let’s tag your bags first, then we can sit down and have a talk.”

Harry stared at him again, her green eyes gauging him warily. “Fine.”

“Here, let me help.” Leo held out his hand again, this time for the yellow tags.

“Um…Thanks.” Harry handed him one before putting both hold-all bag and her old backpack on the floor between them.

Without saying much, both set out for a task of tying the tags on each bag; Leo on the hold-all and Harry on her backpack. Once they finished Harry quickly swung the backpack on her bag again. Leo took it as his queue and lifted the other bag up, swung over his shoulder and walked a short distance toward the pile of luggage waiting to be stored under the bus in the baggage compartment. He handed the bag to the helper who was waiting there, he took the bag with a welcoming smile and moved it to the pile. Leo thanked him and walked back to Harry.

“Have you eaten? We still have sometime before the bus leaves.” Knowing the Dursleys, they probably hadn’t fed her at all. “I saw Pret inside the station. Let’s go there.”

Harry’s face flushed pink, something akin to embarrassment flashed across her face, she bit her lips before saying. “I…. can we just talk here? Besides, I don’t have any money to pay for that.”

“I invite you, of course, it’s my treat,” Leo said gently, he didn’t want to come off too pushy. “Look, I haven’t any lunch yet, might as well eat now. And I’m pretty sure our talk will run quite long, and some of the things we need to talk are better speak in private.” Harry hesitated. So, he nudged a little more. “Come on, I promise I don’t bite.”

Harry flushed darker; her hands gripped the straps of her backpack tighter. Leo flashed her a charming grin and held out his arm, Harry glanced at his offered arm and back to his face again before reluctantly took it.

“I don’t know why I trust you but…..” She tilted her head to a side as they made their way inside the station. The cold chill of air condition pelted down on both of them when they stepped through the automatic door. Leo listened to her without interrupting. “There’s something familiar about you…. it’s like, we’ve met before.”

“Oh, in a way, we have. But I think you were too young back then.” He said with a chuckle, not too long after the passed through the sliding door, both of them saw the red-on-white sign of _Pret A Manger_ came into view.

“How young was I?” asked Harry.

“I think last time we met, was your 1st birthday.”

“But that’s…..” Harry trailed off, Leo glanced sideways at her, her green eyes became distant, possibly realized that was when her parents were still alive.

Harry became lost in her thoughts after that. So, Leo led her inside the eatery. The place wasn’t small by any means but it was obvious most of their customers were there for quick take-away. There was a short line formed by the cashier, but only a few customers seated inside. Leo picked the seats that were away enough from people by the glass windows, he led Harry to the chosen seats, had her sat down before asking what she wanted to eat. Harry blinked, finally realized where they were—hmm, her situation awareness wasn’t good at all, something he might be able to fix if she’d let him; he asked for what she wanted to order again, Harry just shrugged and told him that since he’s the one paying, might as well picked them for her.

Leo went and came back in less than five minutes; he bought Harry a chicken, avocado and basil sandwich, together with a medium berry smoothie. While he got himself a BLT sandwich and a bottle of water. If Leo was a little bit older, he would have ordered himself a cup of Americano already, but he didn’t want to start his coffee dependent at a young age like in his last life, so he stuck close to water and tea. Harry glanced down at her food for a second, something like curiosity flashed behind her eyes again but a low growl coming from her stomach made her blushed. Leo unwrapped his own sandwich and began eating, he gestured Harry’s food with his own, urging her to start as well. After another rumble, Harry had no choice but to follow his example.

The two of them said nothing as they worked through their foods. The sounds between them belonged to the chattering noises of people who passed them by, background music that floated softly in the air, and occasionally the station announcements. Harry kept her eyes mainly on him like she was trying to figure him out. It was obvious, she’d wanted to ask him many things but the hunger wasn’t something she could ignore, not anymore.

In a reality different from this one, Harry Potter might be used to being hungry and trained him/herself to suppress it. But this Harry Potter was different, this Harry had learned that starving herself could hurt her trained body. So, as much as she wanted to question Leo, she had to rid herself of the hunger first.

After a moment passed and both finished their sandwiches, Harry sipping on the smoothie. Leo took a swig of his water before started talking again. “So, before we start on anything else, tell me what do you know of your parents?”

Harry shrugged carelessly, playing with the smoothie straw, “Not much. Just what my aunt and uncle told me.”

“Such as….?”

“Their names; James and Lily. That Lily is—was my aunt’s younger sister….” Harry trailed off.

“That’s it?....”

With a head-tilt to one side, Harry replied. “They said that I got my mum’s eyes, but I look like my dad.”

“Yes, your mum had red hair and green eyes. You do look like James Potter, especially the shape of your face, your hair, and coloring.” Leo concurred with her. “So…. what else do you know?”

A scowl painted Harry’s face, she looked hesitant for a moment. “They……… they called my parents unemployed drunkards. And that’s the reason why I got stuck with the Dursley, my aunt said that they died from drunk driving. That I should have….”

Harry trailed off again, looked away from him. Even without finishing the full sentence, he knew what she was going to say. Leo clenched his fists, a rush of anger washed over him. He knew it was bad, Misty had told him so. It was obvious the Dursley had resented having to take Harry into their home. But to go as far as slandering Petunia’s dead sister and husband?! These people were just narrowed-minded and spiteful!

Taking a deep breath, Leo unclenched his hands. “That’s a lie.”

Harry snapped her gaze back to him, her green eyes widened. “…Sorry?”

“I know, you don’t know me” yet, “But that’s a lie.” Leo’s grey met with Harry’s green. “Your parents weren’t unemployed. On the contrary, if your father hadn’t passed away, he’d have been Head of the department, already. Merlin knows, he would have made a better Head than Crouch or Scrimgeour.”

Leo tried not sneered at both names. After the war was officially over, Crouch was demoted to work at the Department of International Magical Cooperation; which was a dumb move on Bagnold’s part. The man had no diplomatic bone in his body! Scrimgeour was a step-up from Crouch for sure, but the man was ambitious, his fixation over appearance would come to bite his behind in the future, Leo predicted it. If Crouch couldn’t make heads or tails out of being diplomatic, then Scrimgeour wore it like a tailored three-pieces-suit. They were like two faces of the same coins. Crouch without any tack and Scrimgeour who had had too much it overflowed.

Maybe his opinions on both Crouch and Scrimgeour were colored by the way they had treated his father’s case. Crouch who was one of Sirius’s superior was too blind to his own pursuit of eradicating dark wizards to see that there was no way Sirius could be a Death Eater. But then again, his belief had been shaken because his own son turned out to be one, right under his nose. As for Scrimgeour; Aunt Callisto had owled him to reopen his father’s case but was rejected because it wouldn’t put the department in a _good light_, even if an innocent man had to rot in Azkaban for it!

For him, Scrimgeour was worse than Crouch. The man refused to help because it would paint DMLE as _incompetent_, and it might hurt his chance to move up further in a political career. Everyone within British Wizarding World, even a squib like his great aunt, knew that Bagnold’s tenure was coming to an end soon, at most in a couple of years. Leo was almost tempted to donate a sum of money to Fudge’s running campaign for Minister of Magic since he was Scrimgeour’s opposition for the position.

Thinking about these two always plummeted his mood. Ugh. The control of his emotions still wasn’t back to the level he’d wanted yet. Meditation had helped but it would still be years until he gained back the reflex of where he was before in his past life.

“What did my father do?” Harry asked curiously.

Shaking himself off, he continued in a milder tone. “Something like a police detective, I’d say.”

Harry scowled at that. “So, do you really know what he did, or you’re just guessing?”

“Oh, I do know but we’ll come back to this topic later once we cover everything else.” Leo gave her a small smile. “As for your mum, well…she was a brilliant scholar, I’m not sure what her job was exactly but my father called her the brightest wi—girl of his age. She was appointed as Head Girl on her last year of school, too, if I recalled.”

“Really?” Her green eyes shone brightly for a second before it was gone. She looked down at her half-drank smoothie instead. “But if they weren’t unemployed, then why Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon said they were?”

Because they were arseholes, Leo wanted to say. “I think you have some ideas already.”

“Yeah, you are right, I do.” She snorted at that, her tone a little bitter. Harry looked up again. “But where do you fit in? How do you know my parents? You can’t be that much older than me.”

“I’m the same age as you actually. We’d be in the same grade, I think.” Leo said. “As for how I know your parents, well…. I’ve never talked to them personally; I was too young back then. But I do have my father’s diary. He was one of your parents’ closet friends. I’ve read some of what he’d written of their tales during school years.” As well as how many girls his father had slept with, some in fine details, ugh. He still wished he could bleach his eyes back then. Leo shuddered at the memories.

“Your father’s diary? But why couldn’t you just talk to him?” She asked curiously.

“He’s…… unavailable at the moment,” Leo said curtly.

“Oh.” Harry bit her lip once more, a guilty look pass over her face. “Sorry.”

He waved his hand, “Oh, he’s still alive. Just not able to be with me at the moment.”

She looked a little bit relieved at his words. Leo gave her another long look before glancing around him, making sure no one was looking at them before sitting up. “There’s something I want to ask before we go any further,” Harry nodded and straightened up in her seat. “Have you ever had anything strange or unexplained happened to you…or those around you? Especially when you’re angry or frightened?”

Harry’s face went blank for a few minutes before her eyes hardened. “I don’t know what’re talking about.”

Leo met her stare head-on for a moment. Hmm, she looked guarded all of the sudden. Must be some nonsense the Dursley had tried to instill in her. But from how much accidental magic that Misty had witnessed Harry displayed, there was no way she wasn’t at least aware of it. This might have been just a defense mechanism?

He looked around where they were again, no one seemed to be paying attention to two kids having their lunch. Leo decided to take a risky chance.

“I think you do.” He said before clasped both hands over his half-drank bottle of water. “Watch,”

He concentrated on the magic inside of him, calling it forward and pushed it out into the water inside the bottle. He had been practicing this for a week now, the original spell was from a third-year spellbook, it would be much easier to produce a result with help of a wand and incantation. But Sirius had written that this was one of good exercise to utilize your magic without using a wand; something about precision. There were other easier spells he could have a pick, of course, if they weren’t sitting in the middle of muggle station. This one was a little harder, more difficult but not flashy enough to make a spectacle of an unwanted audience.

Underage magic was monitored by the Accidental Magic Reversal Department before a witch or wizard reached the age to attend a magical school. (Especially children that grew up outside Wizarding community.) From there, after a wand was purchased, it was automatically imbued with The Trace to keep track of its activity outside school, until the said witch/wizard reached an age of majority; in magical case, seventeen years old. But since Leo used neither wand nor incantation, and the spell was not flashy enough to gain attention from muggles, making it harder for Accidental Magic Reversal Department to actually track the signature of the caster. London was, after all, a magical hubbub of Great Britain.

The magic responded just like he’d practiced, he pulled it forward before pushing it out through his hands, reciting the incantation in his mind, while his brain pictured what he wanted clearly in his head. Will and intention; the most important part of casting a spell. Without any flash of light at all, the water inside the bottle started to freeze, solidified the liquid, less than a second all the remaining water was frozen over. Even with a lot of practice, using magic without any focus still taking a toll of his reserve; Leo heaved out a deep sigh and unclasped his hands, then offered the frozen bottle over to Harry. “Something….. like this.”

The girl stared down at it with eyes wide, her guarded expression gone. She snatched the bottle from his hand before shook the content inside for confirmation, still, the ice inside stayed frozen. Harry’s green eyes lifted from the bottle to meet Leo’s own greys. “…how?”

“Magic,” Leo spoke the word with a small grin, loud enough just for Harry to hear.

The girl put the bottle down in between them and looked fixedly at him, searching his face again. “But, there’s no such thing as…. As magic.” she almost flinched as the word, her body jolted away one-sided as if dodging a blow that wasn’t there. Leo narrowed his eyes at the reaction.

“Of course, there is. You are looking at it.” Leo pointed at the frozen bottle before he waved his hand around. “Magic is everywhere if you know where to look. Hidden among the mundane in secrets, there live a group of people with the special ability we called magic, in almost every country around the world.”

“If….. if that’s true why no one knows anything about it?” asked Harry, still reluctant to believe.

“You know about the Witch Hunt during the 1500s?” Harry looked thoughtful for a second before she nodded a reply, seemingly understood the implication. “So, you understand why we live in secrecy.”

“….you’re telling me, I’m what?..... A witch?” She looked at him incredulously. “Then, what are you? A wizard, like Gandalf?”

Leo had a flash of Dumbledore’s silver hair and bead for a moment; remembering how he also compared the old wizard to Gandalf all those years ago, he chuckled and shook his head. “Not like Gandalf no, but yes to being a wizard. We have our own government, school, laws, even shopping districts. But it’s all separated from the muggle—”

“Muggle?”

“Non-magical people—the mundane. We British called them Muggles. I think each country has a different word for them.” Leo explained as Harry listened along. “Like I was saying, everything is separated from the muggles. It’s necessary that we keep ourselves secret. Historically speaking, the mundane masses are not quite ready for such revelation yet. So, we have laws forbidding us to do magic in front of muggles.”

Hearing that she glanced down at the frozen bottle again, “Then, what you just did, won’t you get in trouble?”

“Since I didn’t use a wand or incantation to cast it, they can’t really track me here. There’s a lot of witches and wizards living in London after all. Besides, you are already one yourself. It’s not exactly a revelation, isn’t it?”

Harry nodded but still somewhat looking skeptical. “But what’s that got to do with you telling me about my parents?”

“Several things actually.” He said. “First, I just want you to know that you are not the only one with the ability to do something unexplainable by usual standards. There’re hundreds, thousands of people who could do what you do—a whole society of it. There’s nothing wrong with being a little different. No matter what anyone says.” Harry flinched at that; Leo suspected it had something to do with what the Dursley been telling her. He pushed his flaring anger toward her horrible relatives away and pressed on. “Second, I need to tell you all that because Magic is mostly hereditary. Do you know what does that means?”

Harry blinked owlishly at him, her mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. “You mean, my parents are—were…”

Leo nodded. “From what I’ve heard, your father was from a very old wizarding family, I’m not sure how old exactly. But your mom was a first-generation witch, the first to be born with magic within the family. We call them Muggleborns.”

“Does that mean, my aunt already knew about magic?”

“I can’t say for sure, but there’s a high chance that she does.” He said grimly.

“If she does, then why did she always call what I did 'unnatural'?... Freaky?” She turned her face away from him and shook her head in disbelief, her hands clenched into a fist. “She always says I am just like my parents. That’s like calling Mum the same thing! Is that what she really meant?” Harry looked back at him once again, her green eyes glinted under the light. “They were sisters, why did she say something so hateful like that about her own relative, her own family?”

“Blood relation is not the same thing as family, at least not to me.” Leo shook his head. There were many people who related to him that he ashamed to be related to; Bellatrix Lestrange for example, who tortured and killed with extreme prejudice. Petunia Dursley might not murder anyone herself, but she was still a horrible, horrible woman. “I don’t know your aunt personally, so I can’t tell you the real reason why. And while I don’t want to think badly about someone I’ve never met, but from what you said about her, how she said something like that to you, I’d say your aunt is a spiteful and bitter person. She might have been jealous of your mother and then pass the feeling on to you.”

“Jealous? Why would she be jealous of someone who’s dead?” Her tone was wary. “But yeah, if it’s Aunt Petunia, I can believe it. The woman can be jealous of anything, from the neighbor having a better garden to someone having a better pair of shoes than hers.”

“If I were you, I won’t let anything she said, get to you.” He suggested. “And this brings me to the last reason why I told you about magic.” Leo paused, letting Harry turned her attention back to him once more. “It’s about your parents’ death.”

Leo had debated about this in his head ever since he’d found where Harry was. About telling her the truth behind it. Was she old enough to know her parents’ death wasn’t an accident like her relative had been telling her? The girl was only seven—almost eight, after all. She wasn’t that much older than when Bruce witnessed his parents’ murder, and Leo knew it broke something inside his former mentor then. A wound that never healed, a reason Bruce became so fixated in cleaning up Gotham.

He could make up several scenarios to make it age-appropriated for her, he supposed. But he hadn’t wanted their relationship to start based on lies. There were times and places for a well-thought-out, and sometimes necessary deception. But he didn’t think this time was one of them.

But, would she be ready for it? Could she handle the weight of truth? Should he even be the one to tell her? Comparing to living under the lies her relatives had fed to her, was it worth it?

“What is it?” Harry asked, cutting his train of thoughts short for him.

Leo sighed and admitted out loud. “I’m debating if I should tell you about it yet. I’m not sure you’re old enough to handle the truth.”

Harry narrowed her eyes at him. “Excuse me, but aren’t you the same age as me? You already knew about it!”

Yeah, but he wasn’t a typically eight years old, was he? Not that he could tell her that.

“Their deaths….. my parents didn’t die in a car crash, did they?” Harry asked straightforwardly but her voice barely a whisper.

Leo grimaced and then shook his head. “No, they didn’t.” he paused, contemplated the next words carefully, their eyes met again. He steeled himself and took a plunge. Whatever it might happen, at least Harry deserved to know the truth. “They were…. murdered.”

“…..Murdered? They were murdered.” Harry repeated the words. It was rather a statement than a question, so Leo said nothing in return. A silence fell between them as Harry’s face went blank once more. She faced away from him but didn’t seem to be looking at anything in particular.

After a long moment, she spoke again still not looking at him, “Were they muggle?—The one who killed my parents? Were they killed because they had magic?”

“No.” He shook his head. “The man who killed them was a wizard.”

Harry snapped her attention back to him. “…. was?”

He nodded. “He died on that same night he killed your parent. In fact, he died right after your parents’ murder.”

“How—?”

“No one really knows. The details that night was very vague.” Leo said carefully. “All we know was that he tried to….to….” he paused, Ugh. This was so hard! How could you tell a person that someone tried to kill them, not to mention that person was a seven-years-old?

Harry didn’t seem to be in the mood for stalling, however. “Just say it!”

“He tried to kill _you_,”

“What?!”

“He tried to kill you with a spell, one that no one had ever survived before. But something happened, it backfired on him. We don’t know why or how. But the man was dead, and you survived with nothing but a scar on your head.” He finished quickly; his eyes flickered toward her bang-covered forehead where the supposedly famous scar was supposed to be.

Harry just stared at him, not even blinking for several minutes, her hand unconsciously touched the said scar through the bang. A tear formed in her eyes before the droplet slid down her cheek. Without even bothering to wipe it, she turned away from him again as the silence settled between them once more. Leo grimaced at her reaction, even though he had expected it. The quietness could mean many things. He hadn’t like how she just shut down like that but what else could he do?

Muggles moved by around them, it was a bit surprising no one questioned why two children sat there by themselves without any adult to supervise. But Leo wasn’t going to look at a gifted horse in the mouth. He left Harry to her thoughts as they sat in silence. The water inside his bottle started to melt away when the magic began to dissipate. Harry’s forgotten smoothie almost became almost watery at this point, not that the girl noticed since she still lost in her own head. He grimaced again, yeah, this habit of hers needed to be correct somehow. Thinking ahead or contemplating was fine, but to lose sight of your surroundings like that, wasn’t a good thing.

If, by the end of her stupor, she’d still want anything to do with him, of course. He just hoped the girl wouldn’t just outright hate him for dumping these new burdens on to her young shoulder. And even for a genius like him, he wasn’t clairvoyance who could see the futures. He could predict some of it from gathering and deducting facts but that the possibilities were still endless.

There was no conversation between them sometimes. Neither of them spoke to one another, not until the alarm on Leo’s wristwatch rang; telling him it was the time of the bus’s departing.

“Hey, Hariel….” He called out to the girl sitting in front of him. She didn’t even blink at her name. “…. Harry?” Changing to her nickname, this time the girl inclined her head toward him just a little as if she’d heard him. “Come on, it’s time to go. The bus is leaving soon.”

She blinked owlishly at him before got up with her backpack, still, she said nothing else. Leo internally winced; did he break the Girl who Lived somehow? He didn’t want to think what Death and Destiny would do to his soul if he screwed this up!

Taking hold of her arm, he gently led her out of the eatery. Harry followed along without any protest, letting Leo lead them out of the station back to where the bus was parked.

There, a camp staff was calling for the passengers to get on. The piles of luggage were no longer there, already been stored under the bus. A short line formed at the bus door; children ranged from age seven to eleven queuing up to get on the bus as their parents waited on the side, Leo led Harry without wasting any more time.

Once on the bus, Leo found seats for both of them without much difficulty. He nudged Harry to take the window seat before sitting down next to her. The girl still hadn’t said anything to him, her gaze fixed at something outside the window pane. Leo sighed, starting to regret telling her the truth about her parents’ death. But there was nothing he could do until Harry came back to herself. The good or bad outcome, he’d deal with it like he always did.

In less than fifteen minutes, all the passengers were boarded. The staff did headcount for the last time. The bus wasn’t completely full, not surprising since this was only a second-year this summer had started. All the campers were children under the age of twelve; the age group for this camp. The second camp for older kids and teenager part of the camp would start a week later from them and it would be held in another facility altogether.

As the bus slowly moved away from the station into London traffic, excited chatters were all around him. The children chatted happily, some pulled out snacks to eat, some playing card games to kill times, some just decided to take a nap. Harry was still oblivious to all these. He pulled out his cellphone, shot a quick text to his aunt; telling her that he was on the way to camp. Once that was done, Leo put the phone away and decided to kill the time by reading.

He pulled out an old English copy of _Don Quixote_ out from his bag; he found it a few weeks ago while scouring Nox Hall library for something to read. This was the 1949 version translated by _Samuel Putnam_. Despite it being almost 50 years of age, the book surprisingly in good condition. Even in this day and age that a digital copy was easier to carry, he still preferred a physical copy over a digital one. Something that he’d picked up as habit since his first life as Tim Drake. While Bruce had believed firmly in technology, his former mentor still preferred reading from real books. And Bruce had passed the taste along to him.

With another glance at the girl sitting quietly next to him, he sank deeper into his seat and dragged his attention to the opened pages in his hand. Where was he?.... Ah, that’s right, Quixote was convincing Sancho Panza to serve as his ‘squire’ by promising him his own island to be governed.

He had about two hours of bus ride to spare before they reached the campsite. He might even be able to finish part 1 of the book.  
  


**: : : : : :  
  
**

He didn’t finish part 1 as he’d planned but it was alright, this was his second read after all. When the camp staff told everyone that they would reach the camp in less than five minutes, he finally put the bookmark on and closed the book, preparing to pack it away when he felt someone’s eyes on him.

“That’s one old book you are reading.” 

He turned sideways to see a pair of green eyes fixing on the book in his hand. Harry was looking at it with interest.

“Yes, this is the 1949 copy, I found it at my great aunt’s library. Oh, and welcome back. Took you long enough.” He grinned with relief. Harry flushed and huffed at his words.

“Sorry, I tended to get lost in my head sometimes.” She admitted, hugging the backpack to herself. “I…. I just need to do some serious thinking.” Her gaze flicked back to him. “Finding out that I’m not the only one with uhh…you-know-what, my parents’ death, or the fact that my relatives are lying sack of shit—”

Leo coughed loudly to cover up his companion’s usage of profanity. But he wasn’t fast enough, a girl with big hair sitting the seat in front of them gasped at Harry’s raised voice, she probably didn’t hear the whole thing, of course, just the jibe at the end. The girl pointedly glared at them, Leo tried to cover up with a polite smile back at her, Harry on the other hand, just shrugged the glare off.

Once the bus finally came to a stop, everyone was up from their seats with their bags, including the girl with big hair who seemed to be in a hurried to get away from them as soon as possible.

When Leo was firmly on the ground again, he realized that the campsite was not a campsite at all—not a traditional one anyway, but a large country house consisted of additional modern buildings and facilities built next to it. The main house was about the same size as Nox Hall, but the land surrounding it was much larger. He spied several outdoor courts, gymnasiums in different sizes. Was that a clock tower?

“Wow….” Harry gasped from where she stood beside him.

“Welcome to Grimsditch Summer camp everyone!” A cheerful staff wearing the same yellow t-shirt greeted cheerfully. All the children greeted back with a chorus mix of ‘Hellos’ and ‘Good afternoons’, the host smiled and clapped her hands in delight. “You are the last group to arrive at our camp today. So, let me go over the check-in and schedules really quick, yes?”

The host then proceeded to tell them what they would be doing; first was checking in and be assigned to dormitories. Once that done, each camper would need to pick courses of activities to fill in for the first week during their stays. They would have to submit the forms half an hour before the official opening ceremony at six o’clock; during that time the campers were allowed free time to find their designated dormitory, grab a snack from the canteen where they served snacks throughout the day, or just relax and wait around until the opening ceremony began.

With instructions said and done, the staffs led the group toward the main building where they would be doing their check-in and get their dorms assigned while their luggage would be delivered to the said dorms. Both of them follow along with the crowd as the staffs explaining how the main building where they would be using as Administration during their time at camp; was actually restored and listed under English Heritage Protection. Harry swirled left and right, taking in the sight with interest, almost as if the withdrawal earlier was nothing but a faded memory. 

At the check-in, they were assigned into dorms; his would be shared with two other boys around the same age; while Harry would share with three other girls; the number of campers sharing the room depended on the age group they were in, and if they had requested specifically how many and with whom they wanted to be roomed with. Neither he nor Harry did since it was their first time joining the camp, and they hadn’t known anyone specifically yet. Not that either of them minded sharing with strangers.

Any children with mobile phones would have to check them into lockers, they would be allowed phone call at break time every day. Leo sent another quick text to his great aunt, telling her he was at the camp and would not be able to ring her as often. She replied just as quick, telling him to enjoy himself and not to worry about her. Each camper was also given an information package; containing details for activity courses, a yellow t-shirt and a white windbreaker with yellow accents, both had a camp logo screened on them. They didn’t need to wear them every day though, only at opening/closing ceremony and when on a trip for sightseeing.

Leo and Harry went the separated way toward their respective dormitory; to change and stored their belongings. The room itself was decorated with a simple design with a splash-full of colors. There, the luggage already sat neatly by the door. The room consisted of two sets of bunk beds; in the middle of the room was a short leg table paired with a set of colorful cushions. Seeing as there was no one here yet, he quickly claimed one of the bottom bunks. Less than five minutes later the rest of his new roommates showed up; two other boys who would be sharing the room with him; Josh and Kevin. They introduced themselves before picked the other bunk bed for themselves. They chatted for several minutes before went separated ways to check out the rest of the camp facilities.

Leo quickly stored his belongings and changed his clothes—since he didn’t plan to come back to the dorm until after the opening ceremony, wearing a pair of khaki shorts together with a newly acquired camp t-shirt. Grabbing a pen and the info package before making his way out of the dorm, back toward the head office building.

There Hariel Potter stood, already waiting for him; wearing a yellow camp t-shirt with the same black track pants and her ratty pair of trainers. Her attention was on the package info on her hands, intensely reading the materials within. The nervous air that had clung to her the first time they met was almost non-existent. If Leo hadn’t witnessed it before, he would have said this girl was a different person altogether.

As if sensing his approach, Harry lifted her head from her reading material; greens with and his own greys. She closed the pamphlet away, saying nothing until he actually reached the spot where she stood. Leo finally noticed that her bangs were completely pulled back by a hairclip; showing the famous scar shaped like a lightning bolt. Even years later; it still looked as if someone had taken a knife and carved it into her skin; starting from her hairline on the right side of her head dipping downward before stopping right above her eyebrow, the raised tissue was deep pink in color. Leo couldn’t help but think of the implication of how the wound came to be; a result of whatever Lord Voldemort had tried to do to a one-year-old Harry that had backfired on the wizard.

Harry possibly noticed where his eyes were going, because she brushed a hand over the scar, glanced upward to it. “I used to think it was just a scar because of the car accident. My aunt and uncle always hate the sight of it. Now I know why. It’s a reminder of how my mother was different from them.” She tilted her head and looked back at him. “I used to have this dream about a man and a woman’s screaming, shouting something that I’ve never recalled. Then there was this high, cold, laugh; followed by a flash of green light. I always thought it was from the accident but now….”

She trailed off, leaving Leo with a shiver down his spine. Dumbledore had doubts if Harry would ever remember the event of that night, being at the age too young. But in her own words, she somehow did, even though it wasn’t in full detail.

“Do you think they fought him?” Harry spoke again, eyes still looking away.

“From what I know, I think they probably did,” Leo replied honestly. He knew what kind of persons both James and Lily were; they probably tried to fight their ways out when the attack happened, despite the fact that Voldemort was much more powerful than any of them. They weren’t Gryffindors—House of the Brave, for nothing.

“I would like to think they did, too.” A corner of her mouth lifted—only just a little, not yet a smile. “So, from now on I’m not going to let what my aunt and uncle say bother me anymore. I won’t care if Dudley called it ugly; this is a badge of my parents’ sacrifice. I won’t let any of them tarnish their memories any longer.”

Leo applauded the boldness of her statement, but internally winced when he realized what the said scar would actually cost her once she stepped back into Wizarding World.

Unaware of his current thoughts, she turned fully to him again. “Now, let’s finish that talk we’d started.” Her green eyes glinted dangerously under the sunlight. This was far cry from that nerve-wracking girl he met only a few hours ago; this one was somehow more assertive. “While I’m grateful you reached out to me. I still don’t understand why now and not before…. And how do I know you are not just lying to me?”

_Why did they leave her there with those horrible people?_—was the question left unsaid. But Leo almost sure that was what she meant. And while he was quite happy that Harry questioned his motives—it showed that she wasn’t too blind to trust anyone by face value; it would still take him hours until he hammered out all appropriated truth to her.

Leo sighed. He might not be able to tell her all of it today since there were still things, he still had no idea about. It would have to be done gradually, but as long as he was honest with her, he thought it would be alright.

And so, he spoke; telling her about the whole other world that was hidden from the mundane in much more details; the foundation of their society and the magical who lived in it, before he retold her about the wars that sparked from blood-purity which later led to her parents’ untimely demises.

Harry listened attentively with interest. Most things, Leo had read from his father’s diary, some from magical history books. They were mostly abridged version, of course, as he told her, she could read the fine details herself later from books and tomes he’s willing to provide. Somehow, this was another way for Harry to assure herself that what Leo was telling was true.

They went as far as the topic of magical school when the alarm from Leo’s wristwatch rang, telling them the deadline for submitting their activities approaching in less than an hour. They put their conversation on hold in favor of filling in the form without much protest from Harry.

As the conversation shifted to the possible classes, they both planned to join; Leo thought to himself how relieved he was that he hadn’t completely screwed up his chance to build a positive friendship with Harry, all because a chance encounters with her or his slip of tongue right when they first met. He just hoped things would go smoother on his great aunt’s end than it did him.

  
**: : : : : :  
  
**

Callisto Black shut the screen of her phone off with a relieved sigh; while she had no doubt her great-nephew could take care of himself, she still a bit skeptical about his willingness to actually put effort into making friends. 

After all, he had been quite vocal about his distaste of having to mingle with children his age, she knew the boy was just as stubborn as his father; it was almost a given that he would go to lengths to ensure she’d agreed with their promise. Not that she could outright denied him anything anyway. Her little Lion.

From the text message, it seemed he even made a new friend on the way to the camp. She hoped he didn’t say that just to lessen her worry.

Being raised by a squib would always leave a certain stigma on him in the eye of Wizarding World—even thought that squib was once a Black, maybe especially that. While she had come to terms with being an outcast a long time ago, she still wanted the best for her great-nephew. The boy’s magic wasn’t as subtle as he believed himself to be. Anyone with a sliver of magic at Nox Hall could felt it—even a squib like her; coiling over the boy like a lazy feline, different from Sirius’s own exuberant one. 

She had once asked the boy if he ever wanted to grow up with a Wizarding Family—she did this the first several times her awful sister sent her annual letter to them, demanding Callisto to send the boy _home_ to be raised like a true wizard. Leo had laughed and simply told her that he was _already home_, with her, and nothing short of her kicking him out would make him go back to his grandmother.

Even as relieved as she felt, Callisto couldn’t help knowing how much opportunities the boy would lose among the social status. She knew those tutoring sessions organized by several pureblood families were ways for the new generations to make both friends and allies alike. It wouldn’t matter which side of light and dark families you were from, allies and connections always commodities you couldn’t effort to lose if you ever wanted to make it in the wizarding Britain.

Ans she had told him so. But as she had expected, her little Lion just said with quiet humor in his tone; “What’s life without a challenge or two?”

Her great-nephew; a boy at the age of Eight, seemed to take the issues as nothing but a jest; she’d expected that too. This boy was truly a son of Sirius Black. 

“Madam, your associates appear to have arrived.” Mr Brooks; her driver, spoke from the front seat, interrupting her thought.

Callisto pulling down her oversized sunglasses, she looked over the shades, through the tinted window of her car at the apparition spot. From where her driver had parked their Bentley, she couldn’t hear the tell-tale popping sounds; the car itself, as well as the large tree, would obscure any passerby from seeing the apparition, but she could see two wizards in badly disguised muggle clothes appeared. Both of them looked around them nervously, clearly uncomfortable being in the middle of the muggle neighborhood.

Mr Copper; her muggleborn’s assistant had cleared her schedule for the whole day as she’d instructed. She left him and Paloma Carrow to negotiated the deals with Grunnings while she’d meet with her appointment, as well as seeing her great-nephew off to his Summer Camp. After dropping Leo off in London that morning, Mr Brooks had driven them southward toward Surrey. With little traffic, they arrived at this suburban town in under an hour. Little Whinging wedged right where two districts; Runnymede and Spelthorne met. The town itself was part of the Borough of Runnymede, which was one of the most prosperous parts of the London commuter belt, leading the high price of properties. But what special about Little Whinging was that, since was far enough from the Admin HQ, the price went down significantly but still high enough that only people with middle-to-high incomes could afford properties here.

The houses on Privet Drive were built in the same boring, boxy design with front and back garden, all of them almost identical to one another. The same could be said for Magnolia Crescent and Wisteria Walk. The houses from all three streets located within the lower tier in the property market.

From the details Leo had provided her about the Dursleys—which she had all files doublechecked by the people who worked for her(not because she’d doubted her great-nephew’s capability, but it never hurt to make certain the facts were squared.), showed that Vernon Dursley had a steady income from working as a salesman for a drill-making company, while Petunia Dursley was a housewife who occasionally spent her time (gossiping) with gardening club. They had a son named Dudley who had not even reached ten years old yet but already showed a sign of obesity. 

From first glance, the family was completely ordinary, almost obsessively so. They had a normal, boring job, living in a normal (if nosy) neighborhood, had a steady income. Even their house was absolutely normal, borderline-dull. 

For someone who was born from a wizarding ancestry—even being a squib herself, she still came from people who valued eccentricity as well as individuality to a certain degree. You would never find two wizards’ houses exactly the same; sure, the base designs might be but magic from each family that permeated the properties would always differentiate each one. Even Nox Hall; a home for generations of Black _Squibs_, we still retained the traditions of eccentricity and add our own personal touch to the mansion even without the help of magic.

Just looking at this neighborhood made her felt like she was wearing shoes two sizes too small. No wonder her two newly arrived associates looked so uncomfortable. 

“Well, let’s see what our wizard friends have to say about all this.” She said after pushing the sunglasses back on the bridge of her nose. Without further ado, she pushed open the car door and stepped out on the pavement.

Her two contacts seemingly heard the door being opened and closed, turned toward her direction. Callisto discreetly straightened the light jacket over her dress; her pumps made clicking sounds as she made her way toward the two gentlemen waiting for her. To any muggles; her designer-clothes were worth as much as arm or leg, but to any wizards, she might as well wear a potato sack to them. They had no sense about muggle fashions at all, and according to the clothes they were wearing which were about a decade outdated; the oversized suits might be popular once in the 80s but not so much in 00s; that hadn’t changed. 

“Gentlemen.” Callisto, taking off her oversized shades as she greeted the two wizards, “How are you?”

“We’re fine, thank you, Madam Black.” The older of the two greeted back politely.

The man; Merle Goldstein whom she’d met last about nine years ago when she’d hired his service through Gringotts to ward several of her holdouts during the war; was almost a decade younger than her but his once sandy blond already showing a few greys here and there, the age lines on his faced deepened than the last time they’d met. His ward work was exceptionally good, he was one of a few during that time period who didn’t let blood-prejudice got in a way of driving her away, his discretion also a positive point in her retaining his continuing services. After the wars had ended, they kept casual correspondences a few times a year by posts. Occasionally, she owled him for his services, he did a check on and updated the wards on some of her properties. Alas, they had not met in person for years.

His companion he brought though; she hadn’t expected. The boy was quite broad and tall; built like a quidditch Keeper, fiery red hair and splash of freckles on his face. Despite wearing clothes that a decade too old for him, there was no hiding the fact that the boy looked like he just freshly graduated.

As if he noticed where her eyes went, Goldstein introduced his younger companion. “This is William Weasley, he’s my apprentice.”

Hearing that she raised her eyebrow in mild surprise; Merle Goldstein was quite well-known for being picky about accepting apprentices, and not everyone could keep up with the man’s demanding eccentricity or his peculiar methods of teaching. It must mean this Weasley boy had both potentials and stubbornness to put up with the man.

“A pleasure to meet you, Madam.” The boy smiled nervously at her.

“Same to you, Mr Weasley.” She waved her hand. “I believe you know the context of this contract? I need more than just your skills but also your discretion. That means you can’t tell anyone about our business here, not your colleges, your friends, not even your family…no matter what.”

She made a point with a stare. The boy gulped but nodded along. “Yes, ma’am. I already signed the contract of secrecy with Gringotts and Master Goldstein himself. The magic wouldn’t let me utter a word about this to anyone not listed on the contracts.”

“Well then, with that out of the way. Let’s get this done. You might have to hide us from the muggle’s sight before we proceed, though. I’ve heard there are busybodies living in this neighborhood.” Callisto said with a hint of disdain. Her two companions looked with a bit of apprehension but complied nonetheless. Young Mr Weasley cast the disillusionment charm on himself while Goldstein tabbed his own head before tabbing his wand on hers. The feeling of thick liquid drooped overhead washed over her, a tell-tale sign of the spell being activated.

“This way, gentlemen.” After making sure all three of them were obscured from the mundanes’ attention, Callisto led them down the street of Privet Drive. Neat hedges and front gardens lined both sides of the road as they walked down the street. After passing several almost identical houses, they came to a stop at one in particular. The house was built dull beige-brown bricks with dark brown roof. A neat row of Agapanthus and pansies in the pots lined either side of the front door, a stylish brass number 4 attached to the wooden door.

“This is…..” Goldstein gaped, obviously not the house itself but possibly the wards surrounding it. Callisto couldn’t see or feel the wards at all; being a squib herself. She glanced over at young Mr Weasley, the redhead boy also had a similar expression as his mentor.

“Let’s do a quick parameter walk. Bring out the note as well! Quickly, boy!... Please excuse us for a moment, Madam Black.” The older wizard gestured with his hand for his young apprentice to follow him, the young man scramble after him, pulling a notepad and a muggle ball-pen out from his pockets. Leaving Callisto by herself; they made their way around of the house, the older wizard muttered and pointed widely in the air, while his apprentice nodded and wrote down what he said feverishly.

While waiting, Callisto took the time to look around the neighborhood. From where she stood, she could already see several neighbors watching the Bentley parking down the street like a pack of vultures. Good thing that the disillusionment charm was cast on them, there was no way these people would keep the knowledge about strange people and expensive car to themselves. She hadn’t wanted to spook both the Dursleys and Arabella Figg into alerting another party. They had taken the time luring both of them away from Little Whinging after all.

Misty had sneaked inside the squib’s house and hidden bags of cat foods and toys from sight before dropping an advertising brochure detailing a convention for Pet Supplies locating several towns over. It was a dubious plan but surprisingly work like a charm. Arabella Figg took her army of felines and drove out of town the same morning the Dursley went off for their ‘vacation’. They would have several days to investigate and put things in place before either of them was back.

Luring the Dursley was much easier than the squib, people would go to length when there was (a lot of) money involved, and the current director of Grunnings was almost desperate for the investor to fund their new line of drills. All she had to do was offered to consider the deal in exchange for having Vernon Dursley’s month-long vacation. Less than five minutes later, the man already signed a paid vacation to his employee without a second thought or asking for a reason. A convoluted plan, but worked just as well.

These plans were laid out in detail by her great-nephew before he left for a summer camp. All of these for the sake of going to the same school as the Potter girl.

When she’d first asked him the reason for going this far for, her little Lion just said, “It’s because I can, so why not?”

She knew there was more to it but didn’t want to push him too much about the issue, the boy was already tight-lip about everything he’d been planning. She was still surprised he had let her in on the plans at all.

“……unbelievable!”

Callisto blinked when the voice brought her attention back to the present; the two wizards were already back to the spot where they first started. Both of them looked almost gleefully elated for some reason.

“So, Mr Goldstein, what did you find about these wards.” She asked.

“Quite a lot, actually. I can tell you for certain these are works of master warders! Or anyone who has skills nearing the level of one!” Mr Goldstein gushed excitedly when she raised her eyebrow at that, he continued the explanation. “You see, there’re two sets of wards woven around the house. From two different warders. The top layer works more like a monitoring ward, using the base ward as an anchor; alerting the warder if it was interrupted in any way—”

“Like someone breaching the ward? Or trying to take it down?” Callisto inquired.

The older wizard nodded. “Yes. I think the warder used a ritual of invocation to activate the top layer protection, tying it to the already existed ward.”

“Ritual of Invocation?”

“A spell cast on a person or object based on action or decision; for example, you cast the spell on a person, then a certain condition had to be met, an action a person does or was done to—to activate the spell—which in this case tied the top layer ward, that also connected to the base ward itself!” As Goldstein explained, his apprentice was taking note down, almost feverishly.

“And that’s where this beauty really shines. The original ward is the real piece of art! It was cast first, about a year or two before the second one. And the newer one just funnels the power off of it. A combination of the ancient bond of blood charm, anti-magical tracking, and intention-based ward all in one! Whoever warded this place was a master at a combination ward like no other. I’d love to pick this person’s brain about how they combined these elements and left such sophisticated and elegant work behind!” The man gleefully explained.

“But what does the original ward do exactly?” Callisto asked curiously.

“There are several main purposes for this ward. First, it’s for protection based on blood. Whoever living in this house has to be blood-related to the warder, at least to some degree, the closer the blood-relation the better it protects. Second, it’s hiding the persons under the protection from magical-mean of tracking used by witch or wizard; locating or tracking charm, even scrying will not work.”

But from what Leo had told her, Misty had no problem whatsoever entering the house. So, she voiced her concern. “What about magical creatures? Like owls or perhaps house-elves?”

“Good question, I do not know for sure without poking at the ward itself, but I do think they can still find the house that way, yes….hmm…a weak point in the ward….you write that down, boy?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Good, good. Now, where was I? Ah, yes, so it cloaks the persons living in it. And the last purpose tied to the first one, in any case, a witch or wizard did find the house, as long as they have harmful intent toward the person living in it, could never enter the house and harm the person under its roof. Hmm…maybe they can’t even see the house at all…but, I’ll need to a deeper examination of the wards.”

Hearing that she grimaced. So, the base ward restricted _some_ certain actions but not all. Magical beings could still enter the ward without any problem, but a witch/wizard could still enter the house as long as their intention wasn’t harmful? Not to mention, Leo had no problem finding the girl via muggle’s methods—if one knew where to look. Hmm…but that’s the thing, wasn’t it? Those wizards would never look for the girl by _muggles_’ means; possibly thinking they were beneath them.

Callisto forced her scoff down with a twist of her mouth. As she continued listening to the warder prattled on.

“As I said, these wards were clearly cast by two different wizards. Their signatures left on them are quite distinct. While I can’t tell you, who cast the original ward since I’ve never encountered their signature before, I dare say I can tell you who cast the second one.” The man paused almost dramatically; his brown eyes looked at her with a slight grimace on his face. “And while I am quite confident in my competence as a professional warder, I’m still a league different from Chief Warlock, much less taking down a ward as strong as this one cast by the man himself.”

The Weasley boy snapped his eyes up from his note at the mention of his former Headmaster, his mouth hung open before turning to look at the ward once again. The awe looks painted across his freckled face.

Callisto took a deep breath before exhaled slowly. “Do not worry, old friend. I did not hire you to take these wards down. Just a few more questions; how does the ward recharge?” Being a squib didn’t mean she was ignorant about how warding worked; she was once raised by pureblood family after all. 

Goldstein appeared satisfied with her words before turned away, narrowing his eyes toward the house once more. “As far as I can see, the wards weren’t anchored by ward stones at all—and this’s why I said it’s a piece of art! It was entirely anchored by the bond of blood. The only conclusion was only that by the time the protected living here. possibly, it had to reach a certain amount of time in a year for the ward to recharge and maintain properly; but for how long I can’t really say, not until I completely retracted the wards schematics—which would be a monumental task without knowing the based array.”

The wizard explained excitedly before pausing for a second to rub his chin. “ Hmm…. That’s the thing with the bond of blood protection, the spell itself is powerful of course, but it takes a lot of magic to fuel, one might say for a tremendous amount even. That’s why the practice was abandoned centuries ago. Witches and Wizards had invented many other spells and wards that work almost just as well, the substitutes wouldn’t be as powerful but they are more optimal and easier to cast. Whoever erected this ward must have been in desperation to resort to using this old spell. The protection the original ward gives would last for several years to come, perhaps even another decade or so before it faded completely. The second ward would also dissipate once the based ward is gone.”

A decade. Hmm….so, it should last until the girl came of age at least. But the plan to remove her away from this house was out of the question, the bond of blood protection tied both the Potter girl to the house and her nasty aunt.

There was no doubt in her mind, who was the person that cast the original ward over this house; Lily Potter. Even estranged with her own sister, still wanting to protect her and her family, and unknowingly Lily’s own daughter now that she was living here. And a wizard of his caliber, Dumbledore took the existing protection, tied it with his own ward before he hid the girl here, far away from any influence of any wizarding world, both dark and light. A relatively safe solution, with only a few weaknesses, which easily overlook by wizarding standards. 

Her great-nephew wouldn’t like this development. But it was also something he already foresaw, hence another purpose this meeting with a master warder of Goldstein’s caliber.

“Well, as you’ve said that you can’t really poke the ward without alerting Chief Warlock, I’d say that we leave the wards alone.” For now, Callisto announced primly, pulling the attention from her companions. Goldstein looked relieved, while the young Weasley could be spotted with a little disappointment on his face. Ah, the youth. “I am, however still require your services in warding my new property.”

“Hmm, it’s been sometimes since you request something like that,” Goldstein said. he knew full well he was the only warder she’d contact unless she retained some services from foreign soils—which she’d rarely done so. “I hope you still remember the procedures?”

“Of course, I do. I’m old, not asinine!” She huffed and waved her hand dismissively. “Come, the property is within the walking distance. It’s still being renovated inside but you will get your rough estimates of the exterior, at least.”

Goldstein raised his eyebrow at her words, glancing one more time at Number 4 Privet Drive. “Very well, Madam Black. I don’t know what you’re planning, but I hope you know what you are doing.”

Callisto heard the unsaid words from her companion; _I hope you remember who you are dealing with_. Goldstein might be eccentric but he was far from stupid, he could deduct from the clues already that whoever was living within the wards she had him examined was someone that Dumbledore wished to hide. And now she was about to have him ward a new property that was within a walking distance to the said house? It was obvious she was playing with fire.

And she that, too. But she had promised to trust in her great nephew’s plans. She was committed. So, she lifted her chin slightly higher and straightened her dress. She stated firmly. “As I said, I do. Come, gentlemen. The place is not far.”

Without saying another word, she led the two wizards away from Privet Drive. Their disillusionment charms still intact, none of the nosy muggles ever noticed a woman and two weirdly dressed men walk away, their attention still on the expensive Bentley parking on their street and none the wiser. 

  
**: : : : : :  
  
**

The next four weeks passed by faster than Harry could ever anticipate. Possibly, from a combination of excitement and eagerness to absorb as much as she could about this new world she had discovered, and the frustration and irritation born from realizing about the situation she was placed in; all her miseries she’d endured so far in her short life, was all for her protection as a whole.

Harry had wanted to rant and rage about the unfairness that was her life, but time was not on her side. She only had a month to soak up all the information she could from Leo. If what he had told her was true, they would probably meet again in several years when they both arrived at Hogwarts—the school that taught people like them, like her parents, people with magic in their blood. But why in the world would she wait _that_ long when the well of information was now right in front of her!

So, Harry pushed all the negative feelings aside for the moment and grilled the boy as much as she could. Leo seemed to know what she was doing, only gave her that irritating smirk before gave her what she asked for.

And also true to Harry’s own word, she had kept her hair away from her face. Several campers had seen and stared at her unique-shaped scar on her forehead now that she had been clipping back her bangs. Some even asked how she had gotten it. Harry just shrugged and told them she got it when her house blew up, most of them gawked, some thought she was joking. Leo just shook his head in amusement. Well, she hadn’t lied, had she? 

They filled their schedules for the first week at Grimsditch together, four courses for each of them; Leo picked Basketball and Beginner Martial Arts for himself, while Harry chose Gymnastic and Dancing for hers. They decided to shared Latin (Leo insisted would be beneficial to them as many of wizarding spells consisted of old language like Latin and ancient Greek), and Fencing; which Leo had peaked her interests once more by saying that most of the pureblood children used to take muggle fencing for a way to improve their reflex in wizard dueling, the practices had been dwindled down in the last fifty years because of the increase of blood supremacy movement, and so many practices that considering muggle-based were all forbidden in a pureblood household.

This would be the first time; Harry had picked up any other sport (besides mandatory ones during PE at School) other than Gymnastic of her own free will. It was also the first time she had someone to share it with. Leo had told her he’d already been trained in other kinds of martial arts, but this would also be his first time trying his hand at fencing. 

Their timetable wasn’t as jam-packed like some of her dorm mates; One of the girls with big curly hair who had sat in the front seat of them on the bus had filled all her slots with activities; mostly in academic courses like language and histories, though surprisingly they shared gymnastic class—Harmony-something, Harry thought was her name, her skills and techniques were decent. But it showed she hadn’t been vigorously trained as Harry had.

The said girl always scrunched her nose at Harry every time they shared space, especially when their gymnastic instructor all but praised Harry’s skills. That was why Harry hadn’t really paid her much attention to her, she had no time to waste. They rarely interacted at the dorm or shared class, the other girl was busy with all other activities, while Harry herself had occupied her mind with her own schedules and new information about the world her parents came from. 

During the free time on the second day of the camp, Leo had introduced her to his house-elf—Misty; who turned out, also had been the one feeding Harry for the last two years.

The taller boy hadn’t told her outright of this, of course. But after explaining to Harry what Misty was, the little elf had served them afternoon snacks. And as soon as she tasted the food, her mind recognized the flavors within seconds. And of course, she demanded the answers from the boy right that second.

“You knew where I am this whole time?” her words almost a whisper, but the accusation was clear in her words.

_If you knew then why didn’t you help me? Take me away from there?_

Leo sighed deeply, putting blueberry scone down on his plate. “Not this whole time, no. I found out where you live only a few days before I sent Misty to check on you.” He paused and met her angry green eyes with his own grey ones. “Remember what I told you about the protections around your Aunt’s house?”

“Yes.” Harry gritted her teeth in anger but replied to him nonetheless. “You said it was supposed to keep me hidden from any witches or wizards. But what good is it when you—a kid my age, can find me so easily?! Is it all a lie then?!”

“It isn’t,” Leo replied calmly, which irritated her even more. “The method I used to find you is _entirely_ muggle. Most pureblood witches or wizards—especially followers of the Dark Lord; who all but reject the muggle ways would never think of using the same method I did. If you really want to know, I will tell you more about it later. But back to your other question, the wards surrounding your aunt’s house are real. But I have no idea what kind of wards they are. You can’t just poke any magical wards willy-nilly without risking the alarm being triggered. You need a professional Warder for that kind of thing. So, I was left with one other option; I sent Misty checked the protections over your aunt’s house as well as your well-being because a house-elf can forego most of the wizarding wards without raising any alarm.”

Leo sighed again and shook his head. “And the condition you were in wasn’t the most ideal—” Harry opened her mouth to retort, but Leo halted her with a lift of his hand. “—I am _not_ making light of your situation, Hariel. But believe it or not, yours could have been much worse. Aside from your cousin and his gang—Yes, I know about that. Misty told me of them. Anyway, your aunt and uncle never physically abusive toward you. Verbally, yes. Neglect, yes. But in the end, there are many orphans out there who are in worse places than you.”

Harry scrunched her nose, she wanted to counter his claims, but she knew there was some truth in it. Leo didn’t just stop there.

“As for your cousin, you seemed to have solved that problem yourself already. And in doing so, you found something you love doing.” He gave her a little smile. She did not doubt that he also knew how she had found ways to hide from her bullies with both her magic and outwitting them before she discovered gymnastics. His assessment was correct; if she hadn’t tried to find a place to hide from Dudley, who knew she would ever find gymnastic like she did, possibly never.

“Then, we’re left with your other immediate problems. First; your starvation, and second, your cupboard.” He continued. “So, I took your second problem and turned it around to fix your first; by sending Misty with food enough to last you until the next day, stealthily of course. Don’t want to send you off screaming when a strange creature suddenly appeared in front of you.” Harry huffed at that, but yeah, she might have done exactly that. “The cupboard was small but at least it was private and secured, as long as the Dursleys have no idea about your secret meals, they left you alone in there. It’s a patch-up job, but until a professional warder could take a look at the wards around your aunt's house, Misty is the only safe option I have.”

Harry bit her lip, she wanted to be angry that Leo had known about her living with the Dursleys but hadn’t taken her away from them. But in her mind, she knew that Leo was still the same age as her. How much could a boy of Eight do to help someone like her?

Well, more than he would ever know. Someday she might even admit it, but not now.

Without his intervention, she might never be able to go far into her beloved sports as far as she could now. Her coaches had always told her that she was severely underweight. The diet plans Ms Yu had given her was mostly to help Harry gain enough weight to be healthy enough to train further. And for that alone, she was eternally grateful. But it wasn’t easy to stop the negative feelings of being left in the tender care of her aunt and uncle from rearing its head.

Streams of thoughts; both gratitude and frustration, flew at each other inside her head, Harry’d never noticed a drop of wetness falling from her green eyes. All she could see was a blurry image in front of her before realizing there were tears. Quickly, she swiped her eyes, not wanting the other boy to see her crying before realized it was too late when a handkerchief was offered to her. Without even looking up, she knew whose it belonged to.

“I’m sorry, I made you cry—”

“_You_ didn’t.” she glared at the offered handkerchief for a minute before grudgingly accepting it. Why was this boy so….nice?! Ugh! This was why she couldn’t bring herself to fully be mad at him!

“Of course not,” Leo said placatingly, his mouth formed a small smile. Harry felt an urge to violently shake it off his face, she took a long, deep breath.

“It’s just…..everything is so frustrating!.... But, you’re right. The Dursley could have done worse things to me. While Dudley and his goons are annoying, they're surprisingly easy to get away—if you know where they won’t go.” Harry said quickly, wiping the wetness from her eyes, her vision cleared again as she looked up to the other boy. “And, I’m sorry I get snappy at you. I…., will you tell your house-elf Thank-you for me?.... I mean I know she did it on your order but…will you tell her that her foods were delicious, and I am grateful for her help, please?”

Leo’s smile brightened. “As you wish.”

Harry felt her lips twitched at his charming smile, she forced herself not to return it, just yet. It was her prerogative to fume a little after all. The boy could smile prettily all he wanted; it wouldn’t stop her for the grilling she had in store for him.

  
**: : : : : :**   
  


After that day the awkwardness surrounding them seemed to evaporate on its own. The summer camp continued in a whirlwind of activities. Both Harry and Leo decided to stick with only four courses of activities for the rest of the camp. So, they could spend their free time together talking about all things magical.

While the gymnastic course didn’t add anything new to her repertoire aside from sharpening her existing skills, Dancing class did help her rhythm problems. Combining the two together, her form became much more fluid, maybe even a little bit graceful. Latin was actually fascinating, too bad her school wouldn’t have Latin as an elective until Year 5 and 6. She’d have preferred it to her current French. And Fencing was both challenging and fun. Leo seemed to pick it up faster than any other kids, including her. She suspected that his martial arts background also helped. For Harry, it took her a while to have a correct form, but her speed and agility had aided her in her advancement.

All in all, Fencing was a nice hobby, even so, she still preferred gymnastics as her main focus. She knew she was a little biased since it was the one connection she had to her mother. But now that Harry knew there was a whole new whole out there that her parents belonged to, the novelty might lessen one day, until then gymnastic would remain her one true sport.

Aside from camp activities, every Sunday, they took trips along with the other campers to visit designated cities—like Worchester and Stratford Upon Avon, for sightseeing and shopping. The latter town was Harry’s favorite; she liked the medieval style markets very much. Leo commented that the shopping districts in the wizarding world would look and feel something similar to it, and that made her excitement bubbling up about finally seeing the wizarding district even more. Sure, it might still be years to come, but it was something for her to look forward to, at least. 

Leo had Misty brought her several magical books for her to read, sadly she couldn’t keep them with her yet as they didn’t want other muggle kids to see. He had recommended that she should start with _A Muggleborn Guide to Magical_, a book which often advised to read before school started by Hogwarts Professors who delivered acceptant letters to muggleborn children. A guide that helped both the children as well as the parents understood and grasped the concept of a magical world better. 

And since she had let her curiosity led her along, Harry ignored the guide completely and dove herself into any relevant chapters regarding the death of her Family. Of course, there were many things still left her confused, but that’s probably because she still missed chunks of concept behinds the words. Leo assured her that there was no need to rush to finish all the books since she had all the time in the world and that she would have even more chances at Hogwarts Library once they’d start school. Harry wanted to retort that she only had one month before the camp ended before both of them would be parted way. Besides, there was no way she could wait for years to learn about the magical world, she would be driving herself crazy before then. But Harry said nothing, deciding to let it go for the moment, she still had several books to finish before the end of the day.

The most shocking though was to see her name mentioned in several historical books like _Modern Magical History_, and _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth and Twenty-first Century_. Well, she knew that her name was in these books because Leo told her so. It still felt surreal to see it mentioned for herself, she had to re-read them twice to assure herself it was actually real.

The books told Harry of the rise of the Dark Lord named Voldemort, who was so terrifying that most people in the wizarding world would not dare uttered his name out loud, instead they called him _You-Know-Who_, _He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named_ or simply _the Dark Lord_. They still scared of him even after his subsequently defeated by _her_—Girl-Who-Lived.

Funnily enough, the details of how she defeated the man were ambiguous at best. None of the books had nothing but speculations written there.

“What I don’t understand is this; How could I—a _baby_ of 15 months old, defeated the Dark Lord of the century?” Harry mused out loud one afternoon, after finishing all chapters relating to ‘herself’ in both books. “That doesn’t even sound remotely _logical_.”

Leo just shrugged nonchalantly, not looking up from his own read; _Don Quixote_. “I don’t think wizarding people are big on logical. But from my own experiences, when Magic is involved, a lot of things are possible. Though, no one knows for sure in your case. Not for the lack of trying, of course. Many wizards would love to know the secret of how to survive the Killing Curse. Alas, none have succeeded. I think, partly it’s because no one has ever gotten a hold of you yet.”

Yeah, another reason that had helped to deflate Harry’s bubbling anger over being left to live with the Dursleys. Whatever that protections left in place over her aunt’s house, it was at least effective against wizardkind. It had kept her safe from outside threats for years, she would have to endure it a little more.

Harry promised to herself that as long as her aunt and uncle didn’t physically abuse her, she could put up with them until she knew more about the protections around Number 4 Privet Drive. She didn’t worry much about her cousins, as long as she kept out of his and his friends’ ways, they couldn’t really do anything to her. Especially now that her uncle had boasted to his co-workers about how talent his niece was at gymnastics. They could no longer spread lies about how Harry was a troublemaker without being called out as liars any longer.

**: : : : : :**

The last day at Grimsditch came all too soon for Harry, like all other of her happier times often did. The closing ceremony had ended almost an hour ago. Many of the children had been lining up at the car park, either waiting for their parents’ transportations or the charter bus that would take them back to St Pancras Station in London once more. The luggage was being loaded under the bus by the staff, including Harry’s neo pick bag.

Here Harry was, standing with the rest of the children waiting for the same bus that brought her here, her white Grimsditch windbreaker covered Dudley’s baggy old t-shirt, her club trackie, and new pair of training shoes that Leo had given for her birthday. Her hair was once again pulled into a tight braid down her back, but this time the bangs were combed and clipped with hairpins, showing the lightning bolt scar on her forehead for all to see. Unlike when she arrived at the camp, Leo wasn’t waiting in line with her. Instead, he went off to meet with his great aunt whom he said was coming to pick him up.

While waiting, he spied one of her dorm mates—Harmony-Something argued with some older campers, the girl lifted her nose high in the air haughtily, her mouth moved rapidly but Harry couldn’t hear what was said. All she could see was that the older campers just shook their heads before tuning out the girl’s rambling. She looked both furious and about to cry at the same time, if she hadn’t been so annoying, maybe Harry even felt a little bit of pity.

“Hariel! There you are!” A voice called out her name, one she came to feel familiar with these past few weeks. Harry turned toward it and was met with Leo Black striding casually toward her. But her attention slid from him to two figures following after the boy; The first was an older woman whose auburn hair pulled into a low bun, a pair of cat-eye glasses perched on her nose, she looked to be about Aunt Petunia’s age, her cream-colored business suit looked as crisp as her expression. But it was the other person who caught Harry’s attention the most.

Another was also a woman, she looked older than her company by a number of years. She had the face of someone with the aristocracy in her bloodline; the delicate slant of her nose and brows, sharp grey eyes the same shade that Leo had. Dark hair was styled into a simple but elegant updo. Dressed in a designer pencil dress; bold peony patterns on sky blue color; one of those high-end dresses that Harry spied Aunt Petunia salivated over the magazine mere weeks ago. Harry doubted her own aunt could ever pull off this dress better than the older woman in front of her, despite being younger.

“Hariel, I’d like to introduce my great aunt, Callisto Black. Aunt Callisto, this is my friend, Hariel Potter.” Leo said with a smile.

“Hello dear, it’s nice to finally see you again.” The older woman smiled before holding out her well-manicured hand.

“Hi,” Hariel said before quickly swiped her sweaty hand on her jacket and shook the older woman’s hand. “I…err….It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am.”

“Oh, no need to be so formal, dear. Just call me Aunt Callisto.” Sharp grey eyes bored down on her, Harry forced herself not to squirm. “Hmm….you really do look like a Potter. Don’t you think so, Paloma? This is Paloma, my PA, dear.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Miss Potter.” The auburn-haired woman stepped forward, she peered down through the cat-eye lenses at Harry. “And yes, madam…..The Potter hair and cheekbone, the nose too. A little bit on the pale side, nothing a bit of sun can’t fix. Hmm….Very striking eyes, your mother’s, yes?”

“I think so, I mean, my aunt told me that. Leo said so as well, but I’ve never seen a photo of her….or Dad.” Harry flushed a little. Both women’s expression dimmed a little.

“We will have to fix that then, hm?” Madam Callisto said.

“I’ll look through Father’s trunks, I’m sure there are some photographs in there somewhere,” Leo suggested, a smile still in place. 

“Good boy.” Leo’s great aunt smiled before gazed at her again. “Hmm….You’re a little short for your age. We may need a check-up with a healer for that. Leo told me you’re into gymnastic, dear?”

“Yes?” The question startled her a little. Besides Ms Yu and the trainers at the club, no adult had talked to her kindly before. Even Mrs Colby who tolerated Harry’s eating in the Library because she knew what her cousin and his goons tried to do to her.

“Any competition yet?”

“Only local ones and within the club, ma’am. I just turned 8 two weeks ago, that’s the minimum age for regional. I still have wait until I’m 9 to qualify for National Final if I chose to.”

“What is your club’s name, May I ask?”

“Whitley-Hale Gymnastics Club. It’s a new gymnastic club in Little Whinging.”

“Are you any good?”

“I’m alright, I think.”

“Nonsense. She’s amazing, Aunt Callisto!” Leo cut in, to voice his opinion. Harry flushed pink again.

“Hmm….I’ll hold you to that then.” Madam Black gave her a lopsided grin, the same one Harry often spotted on Leo’s face whenever he knew something other people didn’t. Not to mention both she and Leo were giving each other a knowing look. All the while Ms Paloma tapping away on her PDA as if she was taking note of the conversation.

Before she could ponder any further, however, a last call for the bus was announced by the staff holding a megaphone; telling Harry her time at Grimsditch finally came to an end for real.

“Here.” Leo grabbed her hand and stuffed a piece of paper in it. “It’s my mobile. Just in case.”

Harry blinked and stared at the written numbers on the paper, wanting to say something but another call for departing was announced. She quickly stuffed the paper inside her pocket, before flicked her gaze toward the boy who had somehow changed her life this past month.

“I guess it’s goodbye.” She heard herself say, her voice wobbling more than intended.

But Leo just smiled at her. “For now, anyway. But We’ll see each other soon, I promise.”

_Yeah, but not for several years._ Harry bit the inside of her mouth but nodded her head. She turned to the older woman, “Goodbye, ma’am.”

“Have a safe trip, dear.” Madam Black said kindly. “And don’t you worry about anything. As my great-nephew said, it won’t be long before we meet again.” 

“Right.” Harry swallowed the lump in her throat before adjudged the rucksack on her back. “I guess, I’ll be going now.”

Without waiting for anyone to say anything further, Harry pivoted on her feet and strode away. She didn’t want to linger anymore and made it harder on herself to leave, even though this behavior might come out as somewhat rude. She didn’t trust herself not to cry.

This past month had truly changed her life. She gained her first friend, as well as the truth behind her parents’ death. She now knew that she was loved by them, so much they had sacrificed themselves to protect her from a mad wizard. And even though it would be years before her Hogwarts letter to arrive, and reunited with Leo, she would have the memories and knowledge from these four weeks to treasured in her heart until then.

And no one could take that away from her, not her aunt and uncle with their harsh words, not Dudley and his bullying ways. No one.

But for now, she kept herself marching forward with her head held high. It wasn’t until she settled down in her seat on the bus, ignoring the children making a ruckus around her, that she allowed herself to look back at the spot Leo and his family stood. But they were no longer there, just as the bus started to pull away from the car park.

“Back to reality, I guess,” Harry said to herself and leaned back in her seat, trying not to think too much how smug the Dursleys would be after a month-long vacation. it was five minutes before she remembered another gift Leo had given her on her birthday along with new pair of trainers, a fairy tale book written by a real wizard; _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_ by _Beedle the Bard_. 

She pulled the copy out from her backpack, Harry had been putting it off on reading it until now, it was the only book Leo had let her keep since it was supposed to be fiction, it could pass as just a fantasy children-book to any muggles. She would still need to hide it from the Dursleys though, Harry knew that only one glimpse of it and her aunt and uncle would know that she knew. Not wanting to think of the consequence waiting for her if that ever happened, Harry settled back comfortably in her seat, opened the book and started reading the first chapter of _The Wizard and the Hopping Pot_. 

_There was once a kindly old wizard who used his magic generously_…..

**: : : : : :**

“How’s the wards inspection, Aunt Callisto?” Leo finally asked once their car was on the road, with him sitting in the backseat with his great aunt.

“As well as one can expect, love.” His great aunt said tiredly. Leo raised a brow at her in question. The older woman just sighed deeply. “There’s no way for us to avoid a confrontation with the chief warlock once the ward had been triggered. The wards were set to alarm him whenever any witch or wizard step foot in that house.”

“That means me,” Leo concluded grimly. Just as he had predicted, Dumbledore would surely show up at Privet Drive as soon as Leo was inside. “Hmm…we’ll need a distraction then, there’s no way we can stop him from coming. We can at least stall him until we got the main details square away.” He contemplated a little in his head. “We will have Ben check when Wizengamot is in session. That will keep him occupied for a while, at least.”

“Have Ben do that, Paloma.” Aunt Callisto simply said.

“Of course, Madam.” Mrs Carrow replied dutifully from the front seat. “Also, the movers sent word that they will be finishing everything by this afternoon. Ben’s doing the last check on the staff now, but there should be no problem since we rotating them from Nox Hall.” She paused for a moment to check the list before continuing. “For the items for the wardrobe that you asked me, I have picked several basic sets for her. We’ll have to do a full purchase once she meets with my styling team.”

“Excellent.” His great aunt replied, glancing at Leo once more. “Everything goes according to your plans then.”

“So far so good.” He absently crossed his fingers as the scenery of Worchester passed him by, knowing very well it was too early to count his griffins before they’re all hatched. They were dealing with both wizards and muggles after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PS :: I don’t know if anyone got the reference on book Leo(Tim) was reading; El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha or simply Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. The character Sancho Panza was one of the famous sidekicks from classic novels. I’ve read the English Version for my class last semester; it was pretty hilarious. There’s also a canon character popped up in this chapter, can you guess who it was? ;D
> 
> I will try to wrap things up by the next chapter or two for pre-Hogwarts. See you next chapter


	4. Years Before Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Blacks vs The Dursleys, ROUND 1. FIGHT!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer :: Same as Chapter 1.
> 
> Warning :: Fem!Harry. Crossover. Kind of AU. No Beta, we die like men. My grammar is as bad as house-elf.
> 
> A/N :: A lot of things happen in this chapter. I try not to 'info-dump' too much, but things need to be shown in this chapter. Please bear with me, so we can get to the good bits later.
> 
> As always, thank you for all the comments/reviews/sub/like/fav/kudos/bookmarks! I will try to respond as soon as I can. Self-Quarantine or not, I've already worked at home. So, there's no difference for me.
> 
> The timeline at the beginning start right where we left off, August 2008.

**Chapter 4 :: Year Before Part 3  
Opening Moves.  
  
**

A few weeks passed by ever since Hariel Potter had returned from Grimsditch Summer Camp. Autumn crept closer with its chiller air, sweeping across Little Whinging, Surrey. The vacation season was coming to an end. The Dursleys had also returned at the same time as Harry did, from their month-long vacation in the countryside at Aunt Marge's.

Both Uncle Vernon and Dudley had gotten even bigger than before, while Aunt Petunia's neck seemed to have gotten longer as well. As Harry sat in the backseat of Uncle Vernon's car, avoiding getting a kick in the legs by her dumb cousin, she felt as if she was sitting in a bizarre zoo. With two hybrids between a whale and a walrus (Her uncle and his son), and a something cross-bred from a giraffe mixed with a vulture. (Aunt Petunia) All three of them took turns recalling the vacation experiences loudly, it was like they wanted to make her feel jealous of spending four long weeks in the same house with Aunt Marge and all her demon dogs. As if!

Harry shuddered at that memory of that hour-long car ride from London back to Little Whinging.

Afterward, Uncle Vernon went back to work with gleeful excitement, boasting to Aunt Petunia about the new shareholder-slash-investor of Grunnings, and telling his wife to be prepared for their visit. This had caused a chain reaction because Aunt Petunia's urge to thoroughly clean the house from top to bottom; especially the kitchen and living area, which meant the one who did half the cleaning was Harry. Her aunt had her scrubbed the kitchen floor until it shone before she was allowed to leave for practices, meanwhile, Dudley got off scot-free to go play with his friends. Harry grudgingly accepted the chores in exchange for them to stop trying to yell at her for showing her scar. They had not been happy, especially her uncle, but Harry stood firm in her conviction.

"It's just a scar, most people have them, Uncle Vernon." Harry boldly told her uncle. "If they start asking questions, you can simply tell them about the tragic _accident_ of my family," she drawn on carefully. "Tell them that afterward, you adopted me into your family out of the _goodness_ of your heart or something."

Harry crossed her fingers behind her back as she stood waiting for her aunt and uncle to make the decision. Finally, her uncle said. "Hmm…. perhaps, that will work in our favor. Right, Petunia, dear?"

Aunt Petunia hadn't been happy, she relented in the end but not without scanting remarks about how ugly her scar was, as often as she could. Harry just did what she had learned from Leo Black whenever the boy did not want to answer someone, by smiling sweetly and pretending the hurtful words were nothing but air. It was easier than she thought; ignoring her aunt's words. She knew better now what kind of people her parents were.

Luckily, her aunt had left her room mostly alone. The old, broken toys from Dudley's room couldn't be thrown in the smallest bedroom anymore—since it became Harry's room, a duty of taking out the rubbish also fell on her. Aunt Petunia delightfully woke her up at the crack of dawn on every rubbish collection day, had Harry dragged the bins out to the front edge of the house. A smelly, tedious work, but nothing a shower couldn't fix.

And so, life at Number 4 Privet Drive went on. Dudley was still a little shit who stole all her breakfast and dinner. Her aunt alternating between spying, cleaning the house, and gossiping about everyone and everything. Her uncle came home with smug expression these days, the sales must have been good.

Harry went back to her club. Whitley-Hale Gymnastics Club reopened bigger and better than before. For Harry, it came with both good and bad. They now offered several types of dance studios, tumbling class, as well as beginner class for Rhythmic Gymnastics. The latter was mostly for a recreational reason for the moment. The newly added spaces and equipment also offered more practice times for those dedicated to competing, for extra penny the members could book the private room for individual practice, the older girls at the club had signed up to use the rooms already; something Harry knew all too well she wouldn't be able to afford, even with extra works she was to put in working around the club.

Worse, with all the extra things, the owners had also hired more workers, meaning her time spent helping out there would also be cut down as well. Harry had no idea what excuse she could be used to spend most of her free time here avoiding her cousin and his gang!

Ms. Yu; her coach, had not given Harry time to ponder on her recent crisis though. As soon as she stepped foot back inside the building, the petite woman had all but slammed her with new training schedules. Autumn was upon them, as well as competition season, even though it was voluntary. Ms. Yu had wanted her to get some experiences before the coming spring when compulsory grades took place. And so, her trainer had Harry working on all four apparatus equally as well as the foundation skills before they could put the routines together.

Her time flew by so quickly in a whirlwind of things, her life for the past several weeks consisted of waking up early, finishing the daily chores at her Aunt's house before leaving for the club. Every day from late morning 'til an hour before dinner time, she trained vigorously, rotating on each apparatus until Ms. Yu was satisfied, with Ballet Class every other day in between. In the evening she came home, helped Aunt Petunia with their dinner, survived said dinner with the abysmal amount of food, washed and cleaned all the dishes before she was allowed up to her room—where Misty's food awaited her.

The house-elf still dutifully and stealthily left a meal for her every day. Although there was no little note from Leo any longer, Harry remembered to say her thanks to the invisible elf and her master. She could hear fainted giggles from the corner of the room sometimes, but if the elf didn't want to show herself, who was she to force her to do so.

One thing that left Harry a little puzzled, was that the Dursleys had never noticed the new pair of trainers she was wearing since she came back from the camp. So far, everyone else did. All the coaches at the club, as well as the other girls who used to sneer at her state of raggedy clothes and shoes. Even some of the neighbors. Harry thought there might be some kind of magic cast on the shoes, but aside from the pair of them being fitted to her size, and comfortable, there was just an ordinary pair of sports shoes. She knew her relatives well enough that she wasn't going to voice this out. As long as they didn't say anything, she wasn't going to do it either.

By the time all the cleaning was done, all the floor scrubbed clean, all the carpet was vacuumed and steamed, all shelves were dusted, all the frames on the wall shined, August was coming to an end. A new school year was to start in a few days. Harry wasn't that excited; the school was pretty dull as long as she did not run into Dudley and his group. All her attention was dedicated to her upcoming Level Competition, Ms. Yu had been working her day in day out perfecting all the routines.

Harry almost forgot about the visitation from Uncle Vernon's new investor. In truth, she barely paid attention to them at all, besides the fact that their visit had transformed her Aunt into a cleaning monster.

"Where have you been?!" Aunt Petunia screeched as soon as she arrived. "Did you forget what day it is today?!"

_Absolutely did_. She thought grudgingly, grounding her teeth, Harry replied. "At practice, of course. You do want me to place high in the competition, do you?"

Her aunt made disgust noise before dragged her toward the stairs. "Go clean up and be quick about it! Your dress is hanging by your door. Hurry!"

Without another word, Harry fled upstairs. After making her way to her room, she found a 'dress' hanging on her door. Her aunt called it a dress but it looked more like an upside-down burlap sack, it even had the same color! Was this supposed to be a shift dress? Trapeze dress? Aside from peter pan collar and cap sleeves, the thing was a shapeless heap. Harry grimaced at the sight. Where in the world did Aunt Petunia even find this dress?! Rubbish bins? Knowing her aunt, that was quite possible.

She sighed and snatched the dress from the door, she had less than an hour to shower and change. There was no point lingering about how ugly it was, she still had to wear it. Quickly, Harry grabbed her towel and toiletries bag, before ran to the bathroom.

Bathing and changing weren't as time-consuming as taming her hair, however. After hastily combed her wet hair, Harry has forgone her usual braids since there was no time; Aunt Petunia had shouted for her to come down a few minutes ago. Instead, she used elastic hairband to pull her still damp hair back, twisted the ponytail into a bun, before using bobby pins to hold her bangs away from her face; leaving her forehead bare.

"Get down here, right now girl! They're about to park the car!" Her aunt shouted for her again from downstairs.

"Coming, Aunt Petunia!" She replied before ran out of her room, and downed two steps at once, just in time when the headlight flashed through the front curtains, signaling the arrival of their guests. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were already there at the foot of the stairs, dressed in their finest clothes; her uncle with a brick-colored dinner jacket and matching bow tie, and her aunt in lavender-pink dinner dress that made her neck even longer than before.

"I'm warning you, girl." Uncle Vernon point his meaty finger at her, "If you even show one bit of your freakishness—"

"Vernon, not now!" Aunt Petunia hissed, and turned to Harry. Her pale eyes flicked toward the scar on her forehead, she grimaced with distaste. "Go to the living room and wait with Dudley, Now!"

Harry fled to the living room as she was told. There her cousin already there, sitting in an armchair, all decked out just like his parents. As soon as he saw her attire, his mouth twisted into a sneer. "What're you supposed to be, Potter? A potato-sack?"

She almost rolled her eyes at Dudley, but his snicker was cut off by the ringing doorbell. Dudley stood up from his seat, straight his dinner jacket. Harry took a deep breath and slid into the spot that her aunt and uncle had them all rehearsed beforehand; at the far corner of the room which was only a few steps away to the dining room's door.

The chattering of conversation floated from the hallway, mostly by Uncle Vernon with Aunt Petunia's occasionally giggles chimed in. A few minutes later Uncle Vernon led the guests into the living room.

"Thank you for inviting us to your home, Mrs. Dursley. Here's a little something from us. I hope you and your husband enjoy it. It's one of my favorites." A female voice could be heard from the hallway.

"Oh, my. Is that a bottle of _La Mondotte_? I heard it's quite expensive. Thank you very much." Harry could hear Aunt Petunia's gasped loudly from a room away.

"May I take your coat, Ms. Black?" Dudley spoke as rehearsed just so. But her attention finally snapped back at the name. She knew Black surname was pretty common, so she hadn't thought too much about it when her uncle told her who the guests were.

"Thank you, dear. You don't mind taking my nephew's coat too, do you?" A familiar voice said just as Harry stared at the speaker, Dudley's enthusiastic voice drowned out as Harry saw a pair of familiar grey eyes.

Stood inside the overly decorated living of Number 4 Privet Drive, was none other than Callisto Black; dressed in long sleeves, navy blue belted-dress, on the crook of her arm a designer handbag that possibly cost more than an entire month of Uncle Vernon's salary. Her dark hair was styled into a simple updo. As if feeling eyes on her, the older woman turned toward her.

"Oh, hello Hariel, dear. How are you?" She greeted with a kind smile. Both her aunt and uncle who happened to walked into the room froze at the older woman's words before swung their glares toward her.

"I'm great, thank you. And you, Madam Black?" Harry replied automatically as if in a daze.

Ignoring the Dursleys whose mouths were now hanging openly, Madam Black waved her hand dismissively. "I'm fine. And what did I told you about calling me?"

Her eyes flicked toward her uncle whose mustache twitched frantically before turned back to the older woman. "Um….To call you Aunt Callisto?"

'Aunt Callisto' smiled brilliantly. "Exactly!"

Before the Dursleys could let any words in, another person stepped through the living room doorway; a tall boy looking about the same age as Dudley and her. Wearing grey button-up shirt and dark color slacks, his shoes polished, his hair combed neatly, Leo Black stood.

"Hiya, Harry!" He grinned loped-side at her. "Long time no see!"

The corner of Harry's lips twitched, she swore, she could hear a pin dropped inside Number 4 Privet Drive's living room.

**: : : : : :**

Leo Black swore he did not live for chaos, no matter how accusing Harry's glare indicated otherwise. He always strived for order _as best he could_, even in his last life when he was a crime-fighting vigilante. But he would not deny that sometimes, it had its use.

During the summer month when the Dursleys were away, Aunt Callisto had the warders checked the wards a few more times throughout the summer without them being triggered. With a deeper look, they found out several things; First being the wards had no ward stones to anchor them, they solely relied on the Ritual of Invocation an ancient spell which tied to the Bond of Blood ritual, an even more ancient spell based on the original warder—whom Leo suspected was Lily Potter, and the relations to her bloodline—both Petunia and Harry, to charge the ward. That meant there was no way to permanently remove Harry before the ward expired, in this case when her Seventeenth birthday; while Petunia (who would always stay here) whose blood could be used to charge the ward, she wasn't magical, thus the ward would be weaker.

The second thing they found out, that while the ward would trigger when a witch or wizard set foot on the ground, but only for those with who entered with malicious intent toward Harry; meanwhile any squibs, house-elves, owls, or any magical creatures had no such problem coming in at all. It seemed to be a weakness in the ward that none of the warders had foreseen. That was why Misty had no problem doing so, without any repercussion.

Possibly also why Dumbledore had posted a squib nearby instead of full-grown witch or wizard, while squibs can't do any spells, some still had a silver of magic in their blood—enough to use magical transportation such as flood or flying on a broom, some even able to make potions, they could see magical creatures that most muggles were unable to. Most witches/wizards always overlooked them, and the muggles were none the wiser. They made a perfect lookout—when they could be competent. He had no idea how well Arabella Figg spied. The news of their arrival would take sometimes to reach Dumbledore's ears, since she lived a street over, at the quickest a day later from the look of how fast neighborhood gossips traveled.

Therefore, they were left with Dumbledore himself. There was no way to know how the ward would alert the elder wizard; did he tied the trigger to his magic? Thus, he would be notified no matter where he was. Or did he link it to some kind of an enchanted device that would show whenever a magical signature triggered within the ward? If so, was it portable? Would he be carrying this device everywhere? then the result would be the same as the first speculation.

There were so many variations to the scenario, without actually asking the wizard himself. And so, Leo decided to gamble on this.

Nothing against the Chief Warlock, but his instinct told him that it would be easier asking for forgiveness than permission. Dumbledore had his reason for leaving Harry in the dark about her heritage, possibly to protect her. Leo just didn't agree with him. And he rather not dealt with the man this early, the Dursleys were handful enough.

And so, he checked for the date when the Wizengamot would be in session by reading Daily Prophet where they would always display the monthly session dates on the newspaper unless a certain session was marked under secrecy. It was time when the Chief Warlock had to be presented as the laws required. Perfect timing for the introduction to the Dursleys he had been planning on.

The sale of Grunnings' stocks was finalized and gone through only a few days before his Summer Camp had ended. His great-aunt was now a new major shareholder of Grunnings Drills. Leo also had her spent a good amount of his money to invest in the company as well. They needed an ironclad control of the company, just in case Vernon Dursley found out their involvement with Magical World and decided to blow them all off. This way, he and Aunt Callisto had something over his head. He just hoped the man wouldn't take it out on Harry once things came to light. But by that time, Leo had expected to have some kind of solution by then.

Leo was gambling on a lot of things; he might be able to plan to _almost_ every scenario. There were still too many unknown elements to his liking. The Dursleys' reaction to his connection toward Harry was one thing he had been dreading upon. While they were mostly predictable, desperation had been known to drive people to do unpredictable things. He just hoped they had all the bases covered enough to push all his plans through.

And as he had predicted, Petunia Dursley had instantly snatched her overweight son toward her right that instant and held him tight by his shoulder. In her other hand, was a bottle of _La Mondotte_ that her great-aunt had just gifted her, she held the neck of the bottle tightly as if it was a weapon ready to whack someone's head with it. The other boy grimaced for being dragged toward his mother, but still confused enough about the situation he hadn't thrown any tantrum yet.

"Y—you know the fre—I mean, my niece?" He could hear Vernon Dursley's question as well as his name-calling slip. His great-aunt's grey eyes glinted for a second, even though a serene smile still painted on her reddish brown-colored lips. It seemed she caught that slip as well.

"Oh. Didn't your niece tell you, Mr. Dursley, that she's a friend of my nephew? That they've met at Summer Camp?" She said as her smile stretched, showing her white teeth to Mr. Dursley, who still giving Harry the stink eye.

"Yes, Niece. Why haven't you told us, huh?" The man gritted the words out.

Harry's unimpressed face turned to her uncle, with a neutral expression on her face. "To be honest, I didn't think they're the same people. Black name is a pretty common surname."

From the corner of his eyes, Petunia Dursley let out a small relieved sigh, the grip on his son's shoulder relaxed a bit.

Suddenly, Leo understood Mrs. Dursley's apprehension. She'd been worrying if Harry's connection to them was magic, which funnily enough, it was. But there was no need to stir a hornet's nest just yet. As planned, he left all the talking to his great-aunt.

"Well, I am so glad that my nephew will have a friend once he starts at St. Grogory's in a few days!" Aunt Callisto clapped her hands together, her tone light, sweet and cheerful—not something he had seen or heard often. She only used them when she talked to potential donors for their charity parties. "You see, he's never been to a school before."

"Is that right?" Mr. Dursley asked skeptically. Harry's brow lifted as she turned her questioning eyes at him.

"Oh yes. You see, when my dear Leo was younger, his childhood development went faster than normal children. It turned out he just has a higher IQ than average children! So, the teachers recommended him to be homeschooled until he can adjust by himself, with his mother already passed away and his father indisposed of, for the moment. I'm the only one who raised him, and I'm always busy with works and such. This's why I'm so happy he's found a friend in your niece!" Leo listened to his great-aunt's embellished version of his childhood tales without even a twitch. "He's been surrounded by an army of tutors, of course."

"Of course." The adult Dursleys echoed, they looked a little bit relieved at the explanation. At the same time, they possibly realized how much money it could cost hiring private tutors, because their eyes suddenly became much brighter, their smile less forced, their expressions almost gleeful. Even Harry noticed the significant change in her relatives, the only one didn't get it was Harry's overweight cousin. But no one paid him attention at the moment.

"And I have to say, I love your living room. It's very _quaint_." Aunt Callisto commented as she looked around the living room. "Reminding me of our country house, doesn't it, Leo?"

"Very much so, Aunt Callisto." He replied dutifully, recognized the tactic his great-aunt used to change the subjects.

"You own a country house, Ms. Black?" Petunia Dursley's eyes lit up as she asked.

"Yes, in Hertfordshire. Our Ancestors acquired it during the 1800s." Aunt Callisto replied.

"Must have been difficult with the upkeep?" Mr. Dursley asked.

"Oh, it's not as hard as you'd think, not when you have money to spare!" Aunt Callisto bragged purposely and waved her hand dismissively. "Did you decorate the house yourself?"

"Of course, everything's according to my Petunia's taste! But wait until you try her cooking, we're having Roast Lamb tonight—her specialty!" Mr. Dursley said quickly with a smile that made his mustache stretched. Mrs. Dursley giggled demurely in the background.

More pleasantries were exchanged for a few more minutes in the living room, while Mrs. Dursley excused herself to set the table for dinner, with Harry's help. Leaving Leo and his great-aunt to Mr. Dursley and his son. Vernon continued with his inquiries about their conglomerate and wealth, while his son looked a bit bored, ignoring Leo entirely. Which was fine by him, he had no desire to converse with the boy anyway.

Ten minutes later, they all congregated in the dining room. Leo discreetly took in the room itself; overly decorated with photo frames on the wall just like in the previous area—none of them showed Harry at all. There was an electric fireplace at the end of the room—more frames lined the mantlepiece; this time there was a photograph of a large woman with short dark brown hair the same shade as Mr. Dursley surrounded by at least five bulldogs—this was possibly Marjorie Dursley, Vernon's sister who's living in Essex. Leo spied an evening view of the back garden through the casement window. At the opposite end from the fireplace was a door leading to the kitchen where he saw Harry shuffled through with a small rolling cart of drinks.

Aunt Callisto seated at the head of the table, while Mr. Dursley took the other end. Mrs. Dursley on one side with her son, Leo, and Harry on the other. The dinner proceeded with small talks (mostly Mr. Dursley continuing with his inquiries about their money.), the roast lamb was a little dry though but the Yorkshire pudding wasn't too bad. The adults were served with red wine, while the children had water.

Leo spied Harry's blond cousin glared across the table from her, suspecting it was because he could have his 'extra' portion from her plate because of their seating. The girl beside him though, just sat ramrod straight and ate quietly, with occasionally answering his great-aunt's questions. Mrs. Dursley gave her a dirty look every time Aunt Callisto asked Harry about the school, ignoring Dudley Dursley almost completely. It had been clear as days, his great-aunt had taken a liking to Harry rather than their son.

"That's wonderful, you will be in the same grade as my nephew!" Aunt Callisto proclaimed as Harry finished clearing the table to make ways for dessert. Mrs. Dursley's face twisted slightly at his great-aunt's words but continued silently serving them purple-colored pudding.

Mr. Dursley could see where that line of thought was going, he quickly tried to cut in. "Oh, but my niece does abysmal in her study, Ms. Black. If your nephew needs anything at school, perhaps my _son _could—"

"Oh, does she?" Aunt Callisto faked a gasp, her gaze swung toward Harry who came back to her seat where her own plate of puddings was nowhere to be seen, it seemed Mrs. Dursley purposely left hers out. The older also noticed that too, her sharp grey eyes glinted slightly, before a smile painted her face. "Did you hear that, Leo dear? You will help the poor girl get her grades up, won't you?"

"Of course, Aunt Callisto," Leo said politely, the same smile spread across his face. He turned sideways toward Harry. "Which subject did you find most difficult?"

The three Dursleys blinked. Harry also blinked before replying, an amused look on her face. "Er…..math?"

"I'm very good at math, I will help you." Leo declared, ignoring the wheezing noise coming from Mr. Dursley.

"Wonderful! That's my dear boy!" Aunt Callisto chirped uncharacteristically and pinched his cheek. Ignoring the stunned look from the Dursleys, she turned and smiled brightly at them. "You don't mind letting Hariel staying to our new house sometimes, do you?"

"I—we wouldn't want to impose—" He heard Mrs. Dursley tried to say.

"Nonsense! She won't be imposing on us at all. On the contrary, I'll be very grateful. She's his first friend after all!" Aunt Callisto said with a sharp smile on her face. "What do you think, Hariel dear? Would you like to visit our house sometimes? We're only a few streets away."

Harry glanced toward her stunned relatives for a second, Leo noticed a mischief glint in her eyes before she replied with a demure smile. "I'd love to. But….you'll have to ask permission from my aunt and uncle, ma'am."

Leo would have laughed at the grudging look both Dursleys were giving their niece, he knew what she was trying to do. The girl wanted her relatives to be the one to say yes to the offer. And his great-aunt seemed to catch on the by-play. Because Aunt Callisto suddenly turned toward the older Dursleys and inquired.

"What do you say, Mr. and Mrs. Dursley? Would you do me this little favor? I only one nephew, after all, I want him as happy as he can be. And I'll forever be in your debt."

He knew what his great-aunt was doing, she tried to incite the Dursleys' sense of self-important, as well as their images of the kind-hearted relatives they had pretended to be. She had been doing it all evening ever since they stepped on the ground of Number 4 Privet Drive. It was too late to take it all back after Vernon Dursley had boasted about his _unfortunate-but-beloved_ niece, whom he had taken in. The man bragged to his boss-who in turn, had told his great-aunt about it.

Petunia Dursley's pale eyes bulged, looking like she had just choked on a whole lemon while her husband's face turned a slight shade of purple, his mustache twitched involuntarily. His son on the other hand, still shoveling pudding into his mouth, eyes darting back and forth between his parents and his great-aunt.

After a long minute of staring, Mr. Dursley finally shook out of the stupor, his face contorted into a forced smile. "I….er….Of course, she can, Ms. Black! But the girl has gymnastic practice almost every day, she's quite busy—"

"Wonderful! And do not worry about her practice, I'm sure the children will work something out." Aunt Callisto beamed at the man, ignoring half of what he tried to say. "Now, I can't help but noticed this lovely photograph with all these dogs—"

Mr. Dursley's beady eyes took a sudden gleam, obviously relieved to change the subject. "Oh! That's my sister, Marjorie. She's a dog breeder living in Essex—"

And so, the conversation went on. Aunt Callisto kept her talk with Mr. Dursley centered around the Dursleys, Grunnings, and frivolous things like vacations and such, with Mrs. Dursley, occasionally chimed in. As much as the Dursleys liked to portraited themselves as obscenely normal, they were still prone to boasting.

In fact, they bragged a lot about mundane things. They seemed to take pride in being normal. After half an hour of listening to them, Leo had learned about how the Dursleys' chose to do anything like, which car to buy, or where to go for vacations. Most reasons were to conform with the public's opinions; if the masses said the car was acceptable _normal_, they bought it. No wonder, the whole street was using the same models of cars. It was probably why they had chosen to settle here—on the street that every house was built with the same floorplan.

It was like they are compensating for something, or rather, covering up about something; possibly Petunia's connections to Magic.

During the chat, Mrs. Dursley had ushered Harry away with the dirty dishes toward the kitchen. They were gone less than five minutes before Harry was back with a coffee tray, her face was blank, but Mrs. Dursley who followed her after her, whose face was tight, her lips thinned.

After Harry served the adults the coffee, Leo noticed that neither Dursleys had thanked her, on the contrary, they had ignored as if she was a servant just doing their job. His great-aunt noticed that too, her grey eyes glinted a bit but said nothing else. Leo gave an inquiring look at her, but the girl just shrugged back at him before disappeared to the kitchen again and stayed gone for the rest of their visitation.

From the prunny hands and damped cloth when Harry made her appearance again during their goodbyes, she might have been washing the dishes in the kitchen this whole time.

"I'll be here tomorrow morning to pick you up." Leo's declaration made both Mr. and Mrs. Dursley's faces contorted again, the smiles slid off their lips; they quickly covered it up, however.

"She has chores in the morning and afterward her practice." Mrs. Dursley said with thinned lips, her mood seemed to plummet once more.

"It's not a problem, I've seen Hariel does her gymnastic at the camp. I'm sure they wouldn't mind a spectator." He said with a small smile on his lips, pretending not to notice the irritating air radiating from the thin woman in front of him. Harry's amused look was back.

"I'm sure the coaches won't mind as long as you don't interrupt the practice." Harry simply said, ignoring a warning look her maternal aunt was shooting at her.

Before the Dursleys could try to dissuade him from his decision, their Driver; Mr. Brooks had brought their Bentley around. His great-aunt used this opportunity to say their farewell and gotten inside the car. Leo spied through the window as their Bentley was pulled away, Mr. Dursley had undoubtedly shouting and finger-pointing at Harry, the man didn't have to patient enough to wait until they were completely gone it seemed.

"The poor girl…." He could hear Aunt Callisto murmured, she seemed to notice the exchange on Number 4's front-steps as well.

"I will send Misty to check on her later." He suggested. He might have to wait until after midnight, to make sure the girl was alone though. At least she had a full dinner with them tonight, no need for food delivery for the moment. Although, he would have Misty packed them some breakfast tomorrow.

"I cannot believe these people. It took my whole being not to get up and slap them silly for all the things they had done to her." Aunt Callisto seethed from beside him.

He was in the same mind as well. "Well, at least it was done. As long as my being a wizard is not out, they are manageable. I'm more surprised that Dumbledore hadn't shown up in the middle of dinner."

Aunt Callisto pulled out her mobile phone and checked the messages, the light gave out a blue hue as it shone from the gadget. "Mr. Copper had messaged me that Wizengamot ran quite late this evening. A lot of noises being made because of Bagnold's failing health. She's fighting tooth and nail to hold on the position. At the rate she's going, the old hag probably killed herself in the process. So, Dumbledore is busy keeping the peace on both Wizengamot itself, as well as helping the interim Minister."

Leo's face scrunched, he knew his dislike of the older witch was clouding his feeling, but he couldn't help how he felt about his father's debacle. And not to sound too callous, he was glad her current struggle was keeping Dumbledore busy for the moment.

"Who is in the lead to succeed her?" He inquired curiously.

"Fudge and Scrimgeour."

"Both Slytherins. Wonderful." Leo said sarcastically. He had nothing against the house itself, it was their personalities that were in question. Look at Bagnold, who was a graduated Ravenclaw, the witch was just as evil as any Death Eaters with her extortions. How many people died in Azkaban because they had not the money to pay their way out after Voldemort's fall?

"And that's not even the worse news Mr. Copper has told me," His great-aunt said with a sigh, shutting off the screen of her mobile before sat back in her seat. Leo glanced toward her expectedly. "It seems Lucius Malfoy is throwing his gold at Fudge's campaign as if they're pebbles."

"That…is not good." He grimaced at the news.

Aunt Callisto had been keeping up with wizarding gossips even though she was shunned by them, and to an extent, he was as well. But gold was still gold. There were some pureblood families whose names had fallen into financial ruins after the war. Some were all too happy to pass the news and current gossips along in exchange for golds.

Lucius Malfoy was one of the Death Eaters who had been found 'not guilty' by claiming to be imperiused into joining the Dark Lord. He also married to Narcissa Malfoy, née Black, Leo's own cousin. And through the grapevine, they knew the man had been trying to have his son install as an Heir for House of Black, much to Lord Black's irritation.

He might have never met Malfoy Senior in person, but he knew how vocal the man had been about his distaste of Leo's continuing existent. A few socialites under Aunt Callisto's employment confirmed that the man had started spreading rumors about how Leo was a squib, and therefore could not inherit the heirship of House Black. He only stopped after an official warning from Lord Black, telling the man he would sue House Malfoy for defamation as well as revoking his wife's dowry as compensation. But by then, it was too late. The damage was already done and people had already started talking. Lord Black's public ire only served to fan the existing flames. Until Leo officially received Hogwarts Letter and showed his face for all to see in Diagon Alley, nothing could be done to counter these rumors.

He was surprised his great-grandfather hadn't given in yet, despite what Lucius Malfoy had tried to instigate. In comparison to the rest of the eligible; Leo's father and Leo himself. Draco Malfoy seemed to be the safest choice to the continuing of pureblood traditions the Black had favored. But Lord Black gave no reason why he still had not done so, much to the bewilderment of the purebloods circle.

Another thing that colored Leo's distaste for the man was the fact that Lucius Malfoy knew full well there was no way Leo's father was a Death Eater, but he kept his mouth shut to save himself, not to mention his greed in wanting his hands on the Black's fortune. And now the man was throwing his gold at the minister candidate? Nothing good was going to come out of it.

"But this is a problem for another day." He concluded with a shake of his head. There was nothing any of them could have done about it, at the moment. "For now, our Phase 1 concludes without much trouble. We'll give it a few days before commencing Phase 2." Leo said with a pleased smile.

His great-aunt glanced at him with an amused look. "You are having fun, aren't you?"

Leo said nothing, instead, shrugging his shoulder. He didn't want to admit it. But yeah. He did, didn't he? All these planning and seeing the fruits of his labor came to through. It was quite different from crime-fighting, even though the element of investigation work still presented. He just hoped all he had done wouldn't push Harry into worse position with the Dursleys.

**: : : : : :**

Harry could not believe her luck, well…. technically, anything that had been happening to her ever since Leo Black appeared in her life. Things just sort of got better? If you did not count an hour-long tongue-lashing her aunt and uncle had given her, the moment Madam Black's car pulled away from their driveway.

It was clear to her during that dinner how much the Dursleys had tried to dithered Leo from becoming her friend by shoving Dudley in her place. When it was clear the Blacks would not budge, they grudgingly resigned and gave her a 'warning' not to let Uncle Vernon's new boss or her nephew saw any of her _freakiness._ Harry had never wanted to laugh in their faces so much before. If they only knew how _thoroughly_ Leo Black knew about _freakiness_. But Harry was smart enough to keep her mouth shut and pretended to listen to their lecture.

Not to say that she looked at gift horse at the mouth, the timing of Leo and his great-aunt's arrival was quite suspicious. But things moved along quickly afterward and her question was pushed into the back of her mind.

True to his word, Leo picked her up the next day and dropped her off at the club. After handing her a packed lunch and a promise to pick her up again in the afternoon when the practice was over, his driver drove away, leaving Harry there; packed-lunch in her hand and a perplex look on her face.

He showed up again as promised, but this time he came in and introduced himself to her coaches, charming all of them with his signature smile. Harry looked on in amusement until Ms. Yu gushed happily about how glad she was that Harry finally made a friend and would no longer hiding at the club anymore. Harry flushed pink because of that, she knew that her coach meant it in a good way, but that didn't stop the statement from being embarrassed by it. If the other boy noticed, he said nothing. They said farewell and she was ushered inside the black Bentley.

Less than ten-minute drive, the car came to a stop. Apparently, Leo brought Harry to his new house located at Lunaria Lane; only several streets away but still within a walking distance from Privet Drive. There were only seven detached houses on this street, all of them much larger than the houses on her street or Wisteria Walk. When Leo said _House_, Harry thought it was more of a small mansion, just lacking surrounding lands that made it so. They were greeted warmly by Madam Black. After the pleasantries were exchanged, the older Black told him to give Harry a tour of their new house, and that they would have a meal together afterward.

Number 7 Lunaria Lane was a two-story house, consisted of five bedrooms—all with ensuite bathrooms. It was impressive both inside and outside. A brightly-lit living room, a large kitchen and dining room. The whole house decorated mainly with dark-colored wood furniture and ivory/cream colored upholstery. The styles were mixed between traditional and modern. There was also a cozy study room as well as a basement. In the backyard sat a small gazebo where a set of patio seats occupied. They passed over the second floor and moved on the attic, they were cheerfully greeted by Misty who had been rooming there among the knick-knacks, before the little house-elf excused herself to go prepare their evening meal. Leo had told her that, his great-aunt hired no other workers for their house aside from Mr. Brooks—the driver, and occasionally a gardener to maintain the garden, the rest of domestic works were given to Misty who loved doing the works.

They made their way back to the second floor where Leo waved his hand toward several doors down the hallway. The master bedroom belonged to Madam Callisto was toward the back of the house, as well as two of the empty guestrooms. Leo's room was next. They did not venture inside any of them.

It was until they came to the last room that Leo twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open, saying the room belonged to her. Harry looked at him, eyes widened. Before started protesting that the Dursleys would never allow her to stay over at his house. the boy just shrugged and said to leave the matter to his great-aunt. Resigned, she followed him into the opened door.

Inside was just as brightly-lit as the living room downstairs, but instead of dark-colored furniture, the room was decorated with antique white ones, splashed with deep-red from the curtains, soft-looking blankets, and a chaise longue. The antique-looking bed was larger than Harry's single at Privet Drive, heck it was larger than Dudley's. A set of writing-desk, as well as bookcase, sat next to it. One door was leading to an ensuite bathroom completed with shower bath and toilet, another led to a walk-in closet, where it was filled with clothes and shoes….girl's clothes, of Harry's size.

"Please, don't ask. Just accept it." Leo simply said when Harry looked at him incredulously.

"But….I can't just accept it! This is too much!" She retorted as she pulled one of the dresses of the rack and pulled out the brand tag from inside. Her green eyes went wide, she hissed. "Look at this! It's a _Marie Chantal_! Wherever am I going to wear this to?"

Her best clothes were her tracksuits and leotards the club had given her, the rest of her wardrobe consisted of clothes previously owned by Aunt Petunia when she was Harry's age or Dudley's castoffs, some like pieces of her school uniforms were bought from a charity shop near Uncle Vernon's workplace; all of them where second-handed.

The boy just shrugged as Harry carefully put the dress back when she took it from. "All I know is that Aunt Callisto had her personal shopper get all these together especially for you."

She sputtered at his answers. "I'm not some charity case! Why would she go this far for a girl she had met only once? Even if we are…. Are we even _friends_?"

The taller boy tilted his head to one side, his grey eyes unblinking as he looked at her. Even at his height, he managed not to make it as if he was looking down on her. "I would like us to be friends. As for the reason why has she gone and bought you a whole new wardrobe?" he paused for a second, looking away. "I think, a part of it is because she's feeling obligated to do so."

"And why is that?"

Leo turned his eyes back to meet with hers once more, his expression was surprisingly blank. "Because it's what my father would have wanted."

Confused, Harry said. "That just adds another why to the list!"

The boy sighed, "I was going to let Aunt Callisto be the one who tells you this after dinner. But since you asked," Leo looked straight at her in the eyes again. "My father—Sirius Black, is your godfather."

Harry opened her mouth and stared.

Whatever she had expected him to say, that was _not_ it!

"_What?_" She could hear herself whispered; it was the only word she could mutter then.

The boy continued as if he hadn't heard her, "Your parents appointed him and Alice Longbottom as your godparents—in case if both were to pass away. My father and Mrs. Longbottom were to be your guardians, both muggle and magical." His grey eyes pained for a moment, "But since, Alice Longbottom was attacked not long after your parents' deaths, along with her husband, both survived but they were left permanently incapacitated. As for my father, …He is incarcerated."

Incarcerated? As in, Leo's father was _in jail_?! In shock, she asked before she could stop herself. "For what?"

Leo started to look uncomfortable, he shuffled his feet. His expression twisted from pained to frustration, then anger. "For _supposedly_ murdered thirteen muggles with one spell."

"Supposedly?" she didn't know why that had caught her attention.

Leo's grey eyes flicked back to her; she could see a glimpse of hesitation there which was unusual. As short as their time together was, she could only see Leo's self-assured side.

"It's complicated and too long of a story to explain—"

"Then make time!" Harry snapped. "If what you said is true, then he's my godfather, too! I have a right to know."

The pained look lingered on his face, and Harry hated that she was the cause of it. But she couldn't take back what she said, she didn't want to.

"You're right. He's your godfather as well." The boy sighed deeply again, making him look older than his age. He waved his hand, gestured one of the scarlet dressing stools sitting in the middle of the room. "Maybe you should sit—"

"No," she cut him off before he could finish, not out of anger. But she still remembered the same tactic Leo used when they first met all too well. She crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her chin, not caring if it made her looking petulant. "I'd rather stand, thanks. And you can stop stalling. I recognize this move, you know."

Leo blinked at her refusal, but it passed so quickly. Instead, replaced by his chuckling. A brief reprieve from the tense atmosphere. "Well, I'll keep that in mind." He shook his head in amusement before starting again. "So, I told you that our parents were friends? Especially our fathers?"

With a nod from her, he continued. "There were two others in their group. Their names were Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. They were friends since their first year at Hogwarts. Even after graduation and during the war, they still somehow kept in contact." He paused for a moment; his gaze fixed on something beyond her shoulder. "Until your parents were told they were specifically targeted by Voldemort."

Harry frowned, "But why? ... I mean, I guess it's war, technically everyone can become targeted. But why them specifically?"

"I do not know. I've read and re-read my father's diary during those times, but there was nothing about that. Either he didn't know the reason, or he knew but decided not to write it down." Leo shook his head slightly; the earlier mirth slowly left his face again. "It could have been anything; James Potter was a powerful individual, so was your mother. He was a very skilled Auror, a Lord of a very old and rich magical house, his family held seats in Wizengamot, the Potter name is very influential in the wizarding world. While Lily Potter did not join Law Enforcement, she became one of the youngest Charms Masters in decades. Her Ward works were said to be exceptional. My father wrote that she could have a mastery in Warding as easily as she did in Charms."

A slight smile formed on her lips when Leo talked about her parents. He had talked briefly about them during the Summer, but there were always other things occupied their interests. A pang of sadness suddenly gripped her heart; here was a boy who knew details about her parents better than her, their own flesh and blood.

As if knowing her thought, Leo reached for her forearm, he gave a light squeeze before quickly withdrew his hand. "Anyway, no matter the reason why Voldemort targeted them, it was one of the catalysts that sent them into hiding. I think another reason was that she was also heavily pregnant with you at the time. And it made them more vulnerable to an attack. Your mother gave birth to you at their hideout home instead of at St Mungo's—the Wizarding hospital, my father wrote that James panicked even more than he was when my mother went into labor."

Wow, that was some details. It was a wonder how much Leo's father wrote about them, but if they were as close as she believed they were, she could see it. A small pang of jealousy shot through her; wishing her parents had left her something like that for her too, but she quickly tried to bat the feeling away. Now was not the time for that!

"Several months after your birth, more people were attacked, some were killed—purebloods, halfbloods, muggleborns; no one was safe," Leo stopped again, something flashed across his face. "My mother's family was among one of the pureblood families that was attacked—no, they were massacred during a family gathering, her whole clan, including my own mother, were killed, no survivor. My father and I weren't harmed only because we weren't there, to begin with."

Harry gasped at the information in horror. The earlier jealousy wilted before it could fully grow. It's no wonder the boy didn't want to talk about it! Her hands started to tremble, she quickly clenched them. "I'm …I'm sorry." She whispered. "If I had known…."

Leo shook his head again; he gave her a sad smile. "It's alright. It was a long time ago. At least most of the attackers were either dead or rotted inside Azkaban," she had no idea what an Azkaban was, but if she had to guess, it was probably some kind of prison. But she caught a glimpse of anger flashed across the boy's face. It lingered as he continued with the tale. "The war became worse and worse, and because of that, the Potters decided to use an ancient spell to hide their location. A very old, very difficult charm that called Fidelius Charm.

"The charm was used to conceal a secret inside someone's soul—a Secret Keeper. It was said that no method of coercion can be used to extract the secret from the Secret Keeper, it must be revealed willingly. My father became their first Secret Keeper."

"Their first Secret Keeper?"

"Yes, sometimes after your first birthday, they had decided to switch to someone else—Peter Pettigrew."

Tilting her head to one side, she asked. "One of their other friends?"

"Yes. My father wrote that Pettigrew was the inconspicuous choice. He was the weakest among their circle of friends, unassuming and meek. No one would leave such an important role to someone like him."

Harry frowned at that, "Um…. That was a little mean, wasn't it?"

Leo clenched his jaw for a moment, but he continued. "I didn't know the man personally, so I cannot say if the statement is true or not. But from my father's observation, having the man as a Secret Keeper was extra security. Everyone in the British Wizarding community knew that James Potter and Sirius Black were as thick as thieves. My father was the _obvious_ choice, so he became the decoy, or in his own word—a perfect bluff."

It did kind of make sense, now that she thought about it. "Right. Since my parents are dead and I'm living with Aunt Petunia, I'd assume that the man—Pettigrew, betrayed them and gave away the secret. What I don't get was why it's relevant to your father being in prison?"

The boy lifted his gaze back to meet hers, his eyes shone like grey flame even under the bright light. "Because no one knew they switched in the first place. My father's action after the Potters' death wasn't really helping either."

"What did he do?"

"He went after Pettigrew. Only for the turncoat to turn the advantage back at him when my father confronted him. I'm not sure on the full details, but the newspaper reported that Pettigrew shouted that my father was the traitor out loud for everyone on that street to hear, right in the middle of muggle street, just before a spell explode the same street, killing twelve muggles and Pettigrew himself."

She could hear her heart thudding in her chest. "Oh." It was all she could say.

"There could be someone who knew about the switch but I have no idea who they are. Whoever it was, are either dead or unable to speak. Because when my father was arrested, no one came to his defense at all. Well, except for Aunt Callisto, of course. But since she's a squib…her political voice within the Wizarding world was next to nothing."

During the summer Leo had drilled her the basics about blood status and each of them would impact someone socially as well as being the cause of the last two Wizarding Wars. Reminding her of the similarity to the muggle's various forms of racism.

"Not even your father's side of the family?" Harry asked.

Leo let out a bitter laugh, "No way….. My grandmother probably celebrated when Sirius was arrested for killing muggles as well as betrayed blood-traitors like the Potters."

She grimaced at that, "I thought you said the Potters were old pureblood family?"

"They were, the Potters had never been one to concern about blood-status. The family is as old as the Blacks. But you will never hear they called themselves _the Noble and Most Ancient House_ like us. They were excluded from _The Pure-Blood Directory_ by _Cantankerus Nott_ because the head of the house at the time was very pro-muggle. Although when interviewed Mr. Nott insisted, he excluded them because their family name is too common and muggle-like."

Harry snorted at that.

"The Potters didn't care about the slight either. I believe it was because being included as the Sacred Twenty-Eight or not, they were still one of the wealthiest. But we're going off-topic. Back to the story. No one came forward to defend my father, some people couldn't believe that he could betray the Potters like that. But some only see that Sirius is from one of the darkest family in the history of wizarding Britain, they just thought he went back to join 'the family' or something. And the current Minister of Magic saw her chance to seize his fortune. She held his vault hostage until he agreed to pay her for the fee for the trial procedure."

"I know nothing about magical laws but that doesn't sound legal?"

"It wasn't. But remembered the war just came to an abrupt end, many took advantage of the chaos from sudden fall of the Dark Lord and announced several martial laws, and it will take us all night to talk about all of them. Let's just say, one of them allowed them the freedom to do whatever they want, even holding someone's bank account hostage. Anyway, my father already moved all his money into the new account under my name. He let them seized his vault only for them to find an equivalence of one muggle penny left. I've heard that old hag Bagnold was so furious when she found out!"

Leo looked so smug when he said that. If the story wasn't so serious Harry might laugh out loud. The boy had told her that her father and his friends were notorious pranksters, this just showed how much that statement held true. The thought had sobered her a bit.

Harry rubbed her chin when a thought occurred to her, "But if no one else knew then, how do you know about the switch? Did your father write that down in his diary, too? Couldn't you use that as evidence to help with the case."

"Case? What Case?" she startled a bit at his bitter tone. The scowl was back on his face again. "Bagnold decided to retaliate by chugging him into a prison without any trial at all!" He paused at Harry's surprise look. "My apology, this has been one thing that always gets to me. With Pettigrew's death, there was no one else that could testify for or against him."

"Are you sure he's dead, though?" Harry asked curiously. Leo turned and looked at her funnily. "What? ...I mean people fake their deaths all the time in movies!"

"I'm not sure what kind of movies you have been watching to give you the idea."

"I think it was one of the James Bond. Dudley forced me to sit in front of the Telly and tried to get me into trouble with Aunt Petunia because it was an inappropriate program for children." She laughed a little at the memories. "Only he forgot that his mother wasn't at home, she went out with her gardening club. Uncle Vernon was still at work. And then Dudley's friend rang him, he all but forgot his nefarious plan as soon as he went out the front door. I ended up watching the whole thing. I actually like it, despite all the yucky kissing. Lots of things blowing up."

With a quirk of his eyebrow, Harry flushed a little. "Look, the point is that, how do you know he's really dead? Did they have his body? ...Why're you looking at me like that?"

Leo's eyes went wide at her words. But instead of answering her, he pulled his mobile phone out and quickly dialed for someone. Harry watched without interrupting.

"Hello, Mr. Copper. It's Leo. I'm sorry for calling out of the blue. But do you remember if the daily prophet ever reported about Peter Pettigrew's death?" He paused and listened while the other side speaking. His grey eyes flicked from nowhere back to Harry's after several minutes. "I see. Thank you for your time, Mr. Copper. No, thank-you…. Yes, I'll let Mrs. Carrow know. Have a good evening."

Shutting off his phone, he slid it back inside his pants pocket. The small smile was back on his face, his eyes had a new gleam to them. "You were right. I didn't find Pettigrew's body. In fact, the biggest part they could find was one of his fingers."

"—which could be easily cut off. But how did he disappear right after though?" Harry said thoughtfully.

"The man could easily disapparate during the confusion—"

"Disapparate?"

"A magical means of travel, think teleportation. Not most comfortable but it's quite convenient."

"Sound useful and possible." Harry nodded, "But that meant this man is either dead or in hiding which won't help your father much."

"This is actually better than sitting around waiting for your parents' will to be read. At least we add another possible scenario. If we use the right bait, we can lure the man out of hiding."

"_If _he is alive, you mean…. Wait! What do you mean my parents' will?! Haven't they been read after their death?"

Leo shook his head. "It hasn't. We were hoping the Potters had stated in their wills who the real Secret Keeper was. But the wills were sealed until your Fourteenth birthday, I think. You can't touch any of the family's money except your trust vault…fund when you started Hogwarts."

Harry's eyes widened; she opened her mouth but no word came so she closed it. Information was playing ping-pong inside her head. It took a while to re-focus again. But all she could do was a whisper, "_I_ have a _Trust Fund_?"

The boy shrugged. "The correct term would be a Trust Vault. But, yes. All magical children from old families have one set up since they were born. Unless you are the Weasleys."

"Why are they an exception?" She blurted out a question without thinking.

"Ah…..Well, the Weasleys are one of the old families but their fortunes were gone a few generations back from bad investments. I've heard they are good people though. Because of that, there had only been one account for the family, until they graduated, got a job, and then got a vault under their own name." Leo grimaced. "We're going off-topic again…. Let's wrap this talk up, Aunt Callisto is not one for tardiness. So, now, you know the reason why. I don't think my great-aunt's obligation to take care of you was only because it's what my father would have done. I think she genuinely likes you. As for me, I befriend you, because I want to. I help you because I can. Is that not a reason enough?"

Harry scowled deepened; her hands clutched her still crossed arms. The number of bombshells Leo had dropped on her today was making her head spin. Well, she did kind of force him to. All this new information she had just learned bounced off inside her skull making her head ached.

"Were you ever going to tell me any of these?" Harry rubbed her eyes with the palm of her hands. She suddenly felt so tired. "Or were you just going wait until I've gone to Hogwarts until hearing from some random guys about it?"

"Yes, I've planned to. Maybe, not all of them today. But you'd have to learn about them eventually." Leo's voice was even and calm, in fact, there was barely any emotion. It served only to annoy her further. She could feel the frustration rising inside. Logically, she knew it wasn't the boy's fault. But she still couldn't help herself. Before Harry could voice how she felt, however, a familiar ring could be heard from Leo's wristwatch.

"It's almost dinner time, Aunt Callisto will expect us soon," Leo said and moved toward the door without waiting for Harry to follow. "I'll go ahead and wait for you in the dining room. Take some time to freshen up. But please, don't be late."

With that, the boy left the room. Her gaze followed him out, there was no sound indicating if the door of her room was open or close, just a sound of silence. So, Harry waited a few minutes just to make sure the boy was gone before groaning and rubbed her face with both of her hands. Her eyes lifted heavenward, staring at the bright overhead light until her eyes watered. It was like a flood after the dam broke.

She had a godfather, who was alive but undeservingly rotting in prison. Her parents were betrayed by one of their best friends, just _not_ the right one the public believed to be. He was also Leo's father. She had a godmother, who was incapacitated and unable to take her in, so she was left to live with her hateful relatives. Oh, and she had a trust fund…vault…thing, she was practically an _heiress_.

She let out a bitter laugh before swiped the droplets from her eyes with the sleeve of her club-issued tracksuit. The back of her eyes throbbed from how long she had been holding back the tears. She hadn't wanted Leo to see her crying again, the boy possibly felt guilty and would stop talking just to make her feel better but she didn't want that. She needed to know. Just like when she knew the truth about her parents' death.

The tears wouldn't stop falling from her eyes. Her heart throbbed painfully from the truth that was revealed to her, from the fleeting wishes of what could have been. At least the boy hadn't lied, or she didn't think he did. But she would take time in the future to verify everything he had told her to be true, it wasn't like she distrusted him. But Leo always urged her to doublecheck the facts even if they came from him.

For now, though, she let out a quiet sob and mourned for what could have been.

**: : : : : :**

"So, she knows." Aunt Callisto guessed after his early arrival at the dining room. "The girl made you tell her, didn't she?"

Leo grimaced at his aunt's speculation but nodded nonetheless. "Yes, to both."

His great-aunt cackled like a hyena for a full minute, before dapping away her fake tears. "I told you, didn't I? I told you, that the infamous Potters' stubbornness can even surpass your intelligence! Alphard and I had years of watching how both of your fathers growing up. If James Potter wasn't as stubborn as he was, he wouldn't be able to marry the Evans girl. It seems blood runs true just like that disastrous mob she called her hair."

He let out a huff of air, he hadn't lied when he told her that he would tell her about all those things. What he hadn't planned, however, was telling her in one go. These things should be told in moderation! She shouldn't have heavy bombshells dropping on her like that! He had wanted to wait a few years for her to be older and had more control of her emotions before letting her know the whole truth.

But all his plans and resolves crumbled like dust when Harry asked him with such fire in her eyes. The green flame that burned with a determination that rivaled his own. And before he knew what he was doing, his mouth already moved on its own, spilling all she had asked. If Bruce was here, he would have been giving a dressing down for hours.

Losing in his own thoughts, he had not realized that roughly ten minutes had passed and the table had been magically set by Misty. It was then that Harry finally showed up.

She walked into the room with head held high, her chin elevated even though her eyes puffy and her nose red. It was obvious, she had been crying. Before he could say anything, however, Harry spoke up.

"My apology for the tardiness, ma'am. I need a few minutes to collect myself." There was a little sniffle in between words, but her voice was steady.

"Understandable, my dear. Please, sit down. Misty has been so excited to have you try her full cooking, she made quite a spread for us. We can talk after our stomach is full." His great-aunt waved her hand, gesturing her to sit down. Harry complied without protest as she sat down on in a chair opposite from him.

Dinner came and went; a quiet affair. Aunt Callisto kept the small-talks to the minimum. Even though no one was rushing to finish, the meal was done faster than he had expected. Treacle Tart was the desert for that evening, which seemed to be Harry's favorite. Because he could see her beaming at the mere sight of it. Of course, Misty remembered well which was Harry's favorite, just like she did his.

"Now that's out of the way. Let's get down to business," Aunt Callisto announced once Misty had magically cleared all the dishes away. Leo didn't miss that Harry sat up straight in her chair, her eyes flicked toward the clock on the wall, a worrying expression on her face. He glanced at his great-aunt, she seemed to notice that as well. "Do not worry about your relatives, dear. I already called and let them know, you're staying until school starts."

Harry's eyes went wide, "I'll bet they're not very happy."

His great-aunt's mount curved into a small smile. "Oh, on the contrary, they're _very happy_." Harry's flashed him one quirking eyebrow since he had no idea what Aunt Callisto did, he simply just shrugged back at her.

With fingers steepled together, his great-aunt started. "So, you _made_ my nephew tell you about everything, yes?"

Harry blinked at her question before a sheepish look settled on her. "I guess it depends on what do you mean by _Everything_?"

Leo rolled his eyes upward, just as his great-aunt chuckled and inquired. "Well, what has the boy told you?"

Harry's gaze flickered to him for a second, before answering. "Well, he told me about his father—Sirius Black. How he's also my godfather and that he is in jail for murdering thirteen people, one of them was the true traitor that gave away my parents," the corner of Harry's mouth lifted into a sneer. His great-aunt's grey eyes twinkled as she observed the girl.

"And how do you feel about that, dear?"

Harry's face still fixed with contempt, she said. "Angry," Aunt Callisto's eyebrow quirked at that, but she said nothing, "Why an innocent man should suffer for the thing he has not done? And I told Leo that the real traitor probably staged his death and is still alive somewhere, or I wish he is…. Wait until I get my hands on his ruddy nec—"

Leo coughed loudly to cover up her colorful language, reminding him of their time at the camp. She often slipped up after becoming irritated or angry enough. His great-aunt still noticed, however.

Harry realized this and flushed pink, but Aunt Callisto just waved her hand. "I understand your anger, dear. We will leave your color choice of words for now. While your observation about Pettigrew sounds interesting, we'll come back to that later as well. Tell me what else my boy had told you."

And so, Harry surmised the rest of their earlier talk; about the possible reasons why the Dark Lord attacked her family, how wealthy and powerful her family was despite their egalitarian stance on blood purity. About her godmother who she could have gone to live with, if not for the fact that she was a drooling mess. A brief touch on Fidelius Charm, as well as the Potter's wills waiting to be read at her Fourteenth birthday. The longer the list went on, the higher Aunt Callisto's brow lifted. It was until when she heard the mention of Leo's mother and the extreme view of House Black, the amused look quickly morphed into a grave one.

By the time Harry finished, Aunt Callisto's face returned to a neutral blank. Her sharp grey eyes scanned him for several minutes, before moving back to Harry. "My,….you managed to get quite a lot out of him, huh?"

Harry said nothing in return as Aunt Callisto assessed her. To her credit, the girl didn't even squirm under his great-aunt's stare, a feast all on its own.

"Well, that'll save us time to explain. Let's get to the point, shall we?" His great-aunt finally said. Harry straightened in her seat. "As much as we want to take care of you like Sirius would have wanted, by that I mean taking you away from your relatives. We cannot do that because of the protective wards around their house, the wards are set through a blood connection from your mother's side, which means Petunia Dursley and to some extent, her son."

Harry blinked owlishly at her words. "I…I don't understand. I mean, Leo told me about the protection around the house, but he said nothing about Aunt Petunia," Her green eyes suddenly flicked toward him.

"I didn't know the full details until after the camp. Aunt Callisto hired someone to look at the wards while the Dursleys were away."

"The wards are based on Lily Potter's blood, and anchored by both you and your aunt since you're both relate to her in some ways." Aunt Callisto took over the explanation. Harry swung her attention back to the older Black. "The people I hired have no idea who erected the original ward, my guess would be your mother—Lily, I believe she did it to protect her sister during the first war."

A funny look flashed across Harry's face, but she let Aunt Callisto continued. "—the second ward has Albus Dumbledore's signature on it, he extends the protection of the original ward to you by a complicated ritual, so the ward will protect and hide you from any witch or wizard wishing you harm." Aunt Callisto took a deep breath, "And without going into long and complicated details which neither I nor Leonis has a full understanding, it seems that the only way to charge and maintain the ward is for you to stay in that house."

He could see Harry's face fell because of his great-aunt's words. Aunt Callisto saw it too, she followed up quickly, "There's a loophole to this, however, because the ward would extend the protection until you reach the age of majority—that's Seventeen for magical, so, we know that it will also survive even when you're away at Hogwarts."

"This means, I have to stay at the Dursley's, but not necessarily year-round, right?" Harry asked, her green eyes lit up with excitement.

His great-aunt's lips curved into a smile. "Exactly. However, we don't know the precise time-period without asking Dumbledore himself, but he's a very busy man."

"I did some counting, based on the months you will be spending at Hogwarts and holidays, that leaves us with roughly three to four months a year. I'd say four, just in case." Leo explained quickly. "To avoid the Dursleys' suspicion, we can't just take you away more than half a year then drop back to stay with them for the rest. That just won't do. So, we will need to spread out the time you can spend here. Our house is close enough within walking distance, so it shouldn't be any problem."

Harry suddenly jumped up from her seat. "Wait! You mean I can really stay here, instead of at the Dursleys'?"

"Not for the whole year, dearie." Aunt Callisto said with a wide smile, "—but yes, you can. If that's what you want, of course."

"Yes! I mean…yes, ma'am." Harry looked a little sheepish, before frowning. "I still don't want you to spend so much money on me though, I mean the walk-in closet is…um…a bit much?"

Aunt Callisto waved her hand. "Oh, pish posh! You'd have all these clothes if your parents were still alive, possibly more, knowing James' tendencies." Suddenly, her expression fell a little. "And Sirius would do the same too if he could be here."

Harry bit her lip and slowly slid back down in her seat, "Well….okay. It's just, the Dursleys won't take too kindly if they see me wear something expensive, they'd asked for sure."

"Leave that worry to us, dear. Let's talk about the next topic, your education." Aunt Callisto stated, leaning forward in her seat. Harry tilted her head to the side, seemed curious about what the older Black had to say. "I've taken a look at your school report, and we know you're smarter than what've you let others see. My question is why?"

Harry suddenly looked uncomfortable. "I….well, my aunt and uncle don't like it when I show up their son. I used to think that if I score high in class, they'd be happy. It turned out the opposite."

"So, you dumped yourself down on purpose?" Leo asked, the girl visibly flinched but nodded a reply. "I'd guessed as much."

"There's no need to do that any longer, dear." Aunt Callisto said sharply, the anger toward Harry's relatives was visible to see. "Since I've told them that my dear Leo will be tutoring you, it's time to stop lowering your standard down to their level. You might not need muggle education after you start at Hogwarts, but I don't think it'll be a good habit for you to keep doing. Both your parents wouldn't have wanted that."

Harry went silent for a few minutes, before speaking again. "I understand."

"Good. Next, is about your magical education. Your pre-Hogwarts education to be exact." Aunt Callisto's sharp eyes fixed on her. "It's true that magical officially started their education at eleven years old. But many magical pureblood and halfblood children actually being homeschooled before that on various topics. Even someone such as myself who turned out to be a squib." Her tone turned bitter for a moment, but his great-aunt soldiered on. "I've tried to give Leo the same chance as he would have, growing up in a pureblood household."

Harry's gaze flicked toward him but remain silent as Aunt Callisto continued. "And this is where you have to make a choice. You can continue with just your muggle education and your gymnastics, wait until your official education starts at Hogwarts, similar to any muggleborn would. I am sure you can catch up with no problem." She paused dramatically; Leo forced himself not to roll his eyes. "Or you can take extra lessons, ones that you would have learned from your parents had they could be here. If you do, I need you to perform as best you can, be as best you can be, no more making yourself look stupid and inattentive so that your relatives would leave you alone."

"And what would these subjects be?" Harry asked curiously.

It was Leo who answered her, "We can start with the basics; Wizarding Etiquette, history and names of your family, then branched out to other magical families, you've already picked up Beginner Latin, we can continue that as well. Maybe other foreign languages if you have the aptitude for it. Once you have the background subjects covered, we can start on magical theories of various subjects that we'll have class later on at Hogwarts. Since we're not doing any spells, you won't need a wand for any of that."

"Sound grueling," Harry simply said, but he could see the excitement in her eyes. "As long as they don't clash with gymnastics—"

"I'm sure we can work out some kind of schedules," Leo said.

Harry's lips twisted into a grin; her eyes sparkled vividly. "Well, why not. Let's do it."

"That's what I'd like to hear!" Aunt Callisto clapped her hands in delight, smiling back at Harry. Leo took a relieved breath he hadn't known he had been holding through his mouth.

_Phase 2 Operation Commences._ He thought with a smile of his own.

**: : : : : :**

The Dursleys had reluctantly let Harry occasionally stay with the Blacks after Madam Callisto had requested her presence, but not before an hour-long screaming and lecturing from Uncle Vernon warning her not to show them any of her _freakish_ natures. Harry almost laughed in their faces but forced herself to remain blank the whole debacle.

Madam Black and Leo visited Whitley-Hale Gymnastics Club before the new school year started, meeting with both owners and Ms. Yu her coach. The older Black had told them that she would be Harry's sponsor from now on, much to her coaches' delight. But she also told them that the hours she would spend there would be cut shorter to accommodate her other activities, much to Harry's surprise, no one objected to this proposal.

The new school year started at St. Grogory's Primary, with the introduction of Leo to her class. All the teachers at school gushed after the boy about how intelligent he was, well…all but old Mrs. Fawcett—the math teacher, whose wig Harry had once turned blue. The old woman seemed to take his friendship with Harry as a personal offense to her, and so she always called on Leo to answer in class—to solve math problems; most of the time they were above their year level. Even the rest of the class knew how unfair the old hag had been. Instead of faltering, Leo just solved any problem she threw his way. That seemed to irritate Mrs. Fawcett even more. It went on a few months into the first term until the old woman tried to fail him by instigating that he had cheated on her quiz.

"You are done," Leo said coldly, standing up from his seat after the old woman smiled maliciously and informed him of his failed result. The whole class fell into silence, even Dudley gang was smart enough to keep his mouth shut. "I had hoped you are mature enough not to bully a child at your age. But it seems your age is against you. I've seen how unfairly you've treated Hariel, out of nothing but spite. You target me, _a child_, because of your personal dislike of _another child_. You, Mrs. Fawcett, is unfit to be an educator."

With that, he snatched his returned quiz, marked with a big red **F**, and strode out of the classroom; not caring for Mrs. Fawcett's demand for him to come back. Less than ten minutes, he arrived back with a harried-looking Headmistress Roemmele and a school security guard. And Mrs. Fawcett was then escorted out of the classroom, spitting mad calling them all ungrateful brats. Leo just watched the school security removed her with a stone-cold face. Headmistress Roemmele told them to self-study for the rest of the class.

Mrs. Fawcett had not been seen again; some students gossiped that she was fired because Leo had demanded it so. The rest of the school just looked at him in fear. It was true that sometimes students were favored by teachers for various reasons, be it for their performance at schoolwork, the potential at sports, or just being rich. But none had enough influence to get a teacher fired before.

They knew that Leo Black had both brains and brawn. The boy breezed through school works, he also excelled in many sports he picked up, he already spoke several foreign languages that made foreign language teachers smiled in euphoria. There were rumors that his family was as rich as Bill Gates and was acquaintance with the Royal Family.

Harry just gave him a questioning look at the last part. Leo just laughed and said nothing.

But the point was that no one dared picked on him, and to an extent Harry, because she was his friend—ever again. Most students were either in awe or terrified of him. Even Dudley and his gang had grudgingly left him alone, they still tried to pick on Harry on occasion but quickly retreated when they saw Leo approached. This resulted in Leo had no other friends than Harry, the boy himself made no effort to do so, he was content to having Harry as his only friend.

Harry's extra lessons did not start until November, they had waited after she finished with her first official competition; where she did pretty well; ranked at second in her group age for the regional, she would keep the same routines for her spring competition as well.

Just as they planned, she had a lesson on Wizarding Etiquette; learning how to address others politely, about table manners, how to dress properly for special events, how to dance elegantly without stepping on your partner's toes. Next, she studied the history of Potter family; nothing too in-depth since she still had no access to the Potter Family's tomes which were locked inside Gringotts Vault. Harry also learned brief histories of major British pureblood houses; the Blacks, the Longbottom, the Gaunts, the Lestranges, the Bones, the Carrows, she even learned about the Weasleys whose fortunes were left in ruin by the Malfoys several generations back. These two classes were taught by none other than Paloma Carrow; whom Harry learned was another pureblood squib just like Madam Black. From the tone of her voice when she talked about her family, it seemed the woman was very glad to be cast out from her dark family.

Harry continued further with Latin class until she found that she had a knack for language it was then she started rapidly going through other languages such as French and Italian. By the time she turned ten, she was also fluent in Greek both ancient and modern. These were taught by muggle teachers who had previously tutored Leo. They all commended how gifted she was at picking up foreign languages, much to her surprise.

Leo also started her on meditation, something he said would help her later on when she started learning Occlumency. For now, it helped with clearing stray thoughts and emotions. Surprisingly it did help with her concentration during performing her gymnastics routines, it was like she became even more self-aware of her limps and body, resulting in executing any difficult skills flawlessly. Because of this, Harry kept up with the session before going to bed each night. She might not be able to hold herself to meditate as long as Leo had, but it was still better than nothing.

Time passed without any major incident; besides Mrs. Fawcett being fired. At Spring Gymnastic Competition, she passed a Compulsory Grade with flying colors and was ranked first in her age group. Aunt Callisto took her, Leo, Ms. Yu—her coach, as well as the Dursleys out for a dinner celebration at a local Indian restaurant. Her relatives could say nothing without outing themselves as fakers and pretended to be happy for Harry's winning and enjoy Indian food when it was clearly not to their taste.

Harry spent times living less and less at the Dursleys just to meet the bare minimum of four months a year that Leo had estimated. She spent all her holidays with Blacks. The Dursleys had left her alone as long as she kept bringing them good reputation from her continuing talents in gymnastics, they hadn't been happy at first when Dudley tried to tell them how she scored higher than he did. But it was quickly buried away when Madam Callisto told Uncle Vernon how pleased she was at her nephew's tutoring prowess, her uncle quickly agreed and all was forgotten, leaving Dudley fuming days afterward.

It felt good. Harry felt like she no longer had to hide her intelligence. Dudley could rage at her all he wanted but, in the end, he could do nothing about it with getting reprimand by his parents. They still had to bribe him with new toys and vacation trips on holidays, though, as far as Harry concerned, her cousin was barred from trying anything.

It wasn't until a week after Leo's Tenth Birthday, both Leo and Harry had been on a revision week, preparing for the term finals before school let out for winter holidays. Leo had been more tense than usual. Harry had guessed it had something to do with his grandmother's annual letter. She still remembered the shock last year when the talking letter arrived, a craggy voice of an old woman demanded that Leo be sent back to the real family, before calling Madam Callisto a number of bad names.

"That's just my grandmother's yearly demand. Please, pay her no attention." Leo simply said before went back to his breakfast. Harry watched Madam Callisto stomped away from the kitchen toward the study, muttering about sending back a howler of her own.

Later, Leo had finally explained that his paternal grandmother; Walburga Black had done this every year around his birthday, demanding for him to be sent back to the main branch of Black Family—to be properly educated as a pureblood should. Harry could not believe this woman was related to an even-temper Madam Callisto, much less a blood-sister. But then again, Lily Potter and Petunia Dursley also related.

This year however no letter came, yet. And the longer the days passed, the more Leo became on edge. Until one morning, all of a sudden Leo let out a bitter laugh and slammed down a copy of Daily Prophet on the table. Startled both Harry and Madam Callisto who was having a quiet breakfast.

"So, this is why there's no letter, huh?" Leo said bitterly. Harry was surprised by the sheer of emotions the boy had displayed in his voice. He didn't seem to notice her nor his great-aunt's reactions at all, instead continued speaking. "Walburga C. Black, 74, died Tuesday, 1st December, at Grimmauld Place; the Black London residence, following a brief illness—her funeral service was held at Shadow's Creek Cemetery on 4th December, attended by close friends and families." He shook his head. "Is this their way of revenge because I didn't fall in line? You were her sister, and I was her grandson. But we didn't even receive an invitation? I have to find out she's dead from an _obituary_?!"

Ah. It seemed Walburga Black had passed away, and Leo was upset because he was neither informed or invited to the funeral. For him, a family was still family it seemed.

Madam Callisto sighed deeply, setting down the toast in her hand. Harry could do nothing but sit quietly and watched the whole thing play out. "I don't think it's something anyone can do, my dear. You know what the rumors said about you, yes?"

"So, they think the rumors spread by Lucius Malfoy are more important than informing your family?" Leo swung his attention to the older woman, his grey eyes glinted dangerously. Surprised Harry with how much emotions were showing in his eyes.

"It's all wizarding politics, dear." The elder woman said. "And until you officially receive Hogwarts Letter, no one can dispute the rumors' claim."

"But you were her sister."

"I am also a squib, disowned from the family. To them, I'm not longer exists. I didn't even attend to Alphard's funeral, and I loved him more than I did Walburga. It's just the way it is, dear. Don't take it too personally."

But Leo shook his head and stood up from the table. "I'm sorry, I need some time." He turned to Harry and said, "Sorry, I can't drop you off at the club. I'm sure Mr. Brooks won't mind driving you there."

Harry waved her hand. "It's fine, I can just walk, it's not that far."

Leo nodded and was gone before anyone could say anything. Madam Callisto sighed again, deeply. "Sometimes, I forgot that he's still a child, no matter how much he acted older than his age."

"Will he be okay?" Harry asked watching the empty seat the boy previously been sitting and the breakfast had was left untouched. It was quite unnerving to see Leo this upset. The boy always seemed so composed.

"He will be fine, dear. Just give him sometimes. Now, finished your breakfast and I'll have Mr. Brooks drive you to practice." The older Black said with finality that Harry didn't dare protest.

**: : : : : :**

Her dear great-nephew was in a funk because of Walburga debacle for several weeks after, by the Christmas came the boy seemed to shake it off and returned to normalcy. He hadn't mentioned Walburga again, not even to Hariel.

Another year had gone by; life went on. There was no sign if Albus Dumbledore knew about them moving to Little Whinging at all. Leo had taken no chance and rarely went inside Number 4 Privet Drive. Neither did Callisto. She mostly talked with Vernon Dursley occasionally on the phone, or at Grunnings monthly reviews, she has other business to oversee than just the drills company after all. Either Arabella Figg had no idea they were here, or the fellow squib didn't report it.

Hariel had done well in all her extra lessons, her grades at school jumped up from before once she stopped pretending; she was a very bright girl when applying herself to her study, especially anything to do with language. Paloma had praised her that she was an attentive student on all subjects, except Wizarding Etiquette. According to Paloma, Hariel did well in class but decided to pick and choose how polite she would be depending on the other party. When asked, the girl just shrugged and said that '_If they want my respect, they have to earn it. I don't care who they are._' Sound like something James Potter would say, to be honest.

After the summer Hariel had turned ten, she had hired an American Wizard named Malcolm Hawke to teach both Leo and Hariel on magical theories. The man was exceptional as an educator, it was a shame that the British Ministry only occasionally employed him, case by case, all because the man was a muggleborn and an American. Though she'd heard from her PA that there was more to the story than that. Callisto had not cared enough to dig into the man's past, as long as he did his job.

Callisto smiled as she spied from her seat where two children sat and huddled together, going through the study materials. She always thought it was a shame her great-nephew's birthday always fell on the week before term-end exams. Not that the boy ever minded or complained. But finally turning Eleven was a big deal for every magical child. His Hogwarts letter would soon arrive within a week.

So, she had planned to take both children for a night out to Leo's favorite deep-dish pizza in London for his birthday celebration.

The boy, however, insisted on finishing his revision before leaving the house, by the time late afternoon came to Hariel starting to look crossed-eyes from all the cramming they had been doing. Callisto knew it was the break she had been looking for. She quickly sent both of them up to their rooms to get ready.

She was texting her PA to make sure the cake would arrive at the restaurant on time when the doorbell rang. Frowning, she didn't expect any post today; maybe the boy ordered something without telling her again?

Pocketing her phone away, she made her way to the front door. As she walked, the doorbell rang a second time. She sighed and quickened her pace. "Coming!" She called, so the person at the door would know not to ring the bell again.

Finally, she reached the front door, when she pushed it open, ready to greet whoever it was on the other side. She didn't expect to see an elder gentleman of silver hair and beard, dressed in a purple, wide-shoulder, three-pieces suit, with a thick yellow scarf draped over his neck. The elder man looked like he just escaped from a vintage film-set, several decades ago.

"Good afternoon, Madam Black." The man greeted, the blue eyes behind the half-moon shaped lenses twinkled mysteriously.

Callisto blinked away her surprise but kept her face as neutral as she possibly could. "Good Afternoon, Albus. It's been some time, hasn't it?"

"Indeed, it has. Do you mind if we talk inside? This matter is concerning about young Mr. Black." Albus Dumbledore replied politely, in his hand was a thick yellowish envelope, stamped with a purple wax seal bearing the coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter _H_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PS :: Please, don't hit me! Sorry have to cut here with a cliffhanger.
> 
> I've hoped that the tidbit with the Math teacher, show you how ruthless Leo could be when the situation called for. Funnily, I wonder how it would turn out once he meets Snape, who behaved exactly the same as this teacher. Haha!
> 
> As I said before, this won't be a bashing fic, no Evil!Dumbledore trying to steal Harry's fortunes or some such; I'll try to write him as how I saw him, powerful but also ultimately human. Like all men, he made mistakes. Also no OP!Harry/OP!Leo either, getting early education won't make them suddenly super powerful and blow through all the plots, nope. It will just affect the story in some other ways.
> 
> Let's get the timeline sort out;
> 
> Summer Camp Ended/Last chapter ended – Mid August 2008.  
Chapter 4 started – Mid August 2008.  
The Black duo's visit – A few days before August ends.  
Leo joined Harry's school – September 2008.  
Walburga Black's Death/Leo's tenth birthday - December 2009.  
Leo's eleventh birthday/Chapter 4 ended– December 2010.
> 
> Hopefully, this is not too confusing. As you can see, we are almost at Year 1 (2011). Pre-Hogwarts will be wrapping up in the next chapter for sure. Until then, stay safe everyone!


	5. Years Before Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few surprise guests showing up. And Leo was reminded to expect the unexpected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer :: Same as Chapter 1.
> 
> Warning :: Fem!Harry. Crossover. Kind of AU. No Beta, we die like men. My grammar is as bad as house-elf. This fic is also cross-posted on FF.Net/AO3
> 
> A/N :: Sorry for a late update. I’ve been busy with Final Fantasy VII Remake. Finally, beat the game only a few days ago! 
> 
> This chapter is majorly written in Leo’s point of view, except the bit that Harry high-jacked at the beginning. LOL Last chapter before Year 1 begins! And as always, thank you for all the comments/reviews/sub/like/fav/kudos/bookmarks! I've read all of them, just haven't gotten around to reply yet.
> 
> Timeline; December 2010. (Leo's 11th Birthday.)

**Chapter 5 :: Years Before Part 5  
Back to Black.**

Leo checked himself one last time in the mirror. As of today, he had officially been living for eleven years in this new world. The older he grew, the more the old image of Tim Drake faded away. His eyes now sharp grey, instead of bright blue. Though his hair still raven-black, the texture became wavier than in his last life. His old body that was built, brawny, and a bit stocky from all the training he had subjected himself to, now different to his new body which was tall and wiry.

He hadn’t liked his new body at first and took him a while getting used to. But the preference was stemmed from having had a body built for strength—strong enough to take hits and still able to keep on fighting, just limber enough for all acrobatic stunts he had to pull. The new body he had inherited from the Blacks was almost the opposite. Instead, it was built for speed. A change which he took carefully approach in honing them. It made sense when you realized how wizards combated using magic and speed rather than strength.

Tim Drake wasn’t short by any standard, he was at an average height. Leo Black, though, was tall for his age. But all the Blacks were known for their tall, elegant statures.

He didn’t compare his new life to his old one often anymore. The nostalgia was nothing more than a dull ache in his heart. While he would never forget them and where he came from, he realized nothing good would come out of it. He needed to move on, just as he was sure they had moved on without him.

Eleven years was a long time to come to terms with many things. His priority changed from crime-fighting to just living. He knew he would never contend with civilian life, turned out he didn’t need to worry at all. Living with magic became a new fascination for him, even when he had been straddling both worlds; more muggle than wizard because of Aunt Callisto.

And then, there was Hariel.

The girl was becoming something more to him than just a mission to be fulfilled. Death and Destiny told him he didn’t need to be friends with her as long as he kept her healthy both physically and mentally until her destined time. (whenever that was) When they first met, she was still an infant back then and had been too young to form any sense of camaraderie with him, both of them were. And then, tragedies struck. She lost her parents, he lost his; while he was lucky to have someone like Aunt Callisto to care for him, Harry didn’t have that luxury.

Years later, they met again, by fate or by chance, it hardly mattered. In the end, they had stuck together, forming a friendship unlike anything he had experienced before, something he had yet categorized.

Almost three years had passed since then; The Dursleys were more than happy to have Harry taken off their hands from time to time, they still showered Harry with snide comments whenever they could, but the girl just shrugged them off.

Their lessons and training progressed well, despite a late start for Harry. She had proven herself that she barely needed his guidance once the restriction her relatives had forced upon was lifted from her shoulder. The girl could have been a child prodigy if not for the hindrance from her petty relatives. He hadn’t wanted to think about what would happen if they had let the habits festered. She could become a lazy, uninterested individual who would keep pretending to be mediocre just to make people around her felt happy and unthreatened. 

But Harry kept her words given to Aunt Callisto; to stop dumping herself down anymore. In fact, she attacked every lesson with the ferocity of a hungry beast. Her grades in all subjects soared expectedly, much to her cousin’s displeasure. Though Math was still her least favorite, she got by enough to pass each term. 

_“Math is too…orderly for me.” She told him when he asked the reason why she hadn’t liked the subject._

_Leo thought for a minute before saying, “Make sense, you are kind of chaotic. It’s a wonder how well you do in gymnastics, a sport that requires so much discipline.”_

_“Chaotic?! I’ll show you chaotic!” And then a pillow was thrown in his face_.

Leo started teaching her meditation after that. Another good discipline to calm the mind and center oneself. As expected, the practice was much harder for her than it was for him. But Harry soldiered on, just like she did everything else. And even though each of her sessions lasted shorter than Leo’s, she still kept at it. That was all he could ask for. 

In addition, they had kept their summer opened for Grimsditch Summer Camp if nothing but for sentimental sake. There was not much protest from the Dursleys as long as Mr. Dursley got a large yearly bonus and additional holidays.

There was still no sign of Dumbledore, or any other witches/wizards showing up in the neighborhood though. Things just went on so smoothly……. _too smoothly_.

Maybe…this was his paranoid talking, but—

His train of thoughts came to an abrupt halt when he heard a tell-tale pop of house-elf’s apparating. From the corner of his eyes, Misty appeared out of thin air. A little pout lingered on her face, perhaps she still miffed about not able to cook him a birthday feast this year.

“Did Aunt Callisto send you, Misty? I didn’t know we’ve taken that long already.” He asked, a slight frown on his face.

His loyal house-elf fidgeted under his gaze, “Miz Callie be calling for Master Leo, sir. A visitor for young Master.”

“A visitor? At this time of day?” The line of his frown deepened. Then, a thought occurred to him, “A wizarding kind?”

“Yes, sir,” Misty replied dutifully.

Had his Hogwarts Letter arrived already? But why sent a witch or wizard here when they knew fully well, he was a pureblood? Hmm, it might be because of the rumors that he was thought a squib, and also raised by one. Or was it because this was a muggle neighborhood? 

Shrugging, he grabbed his coat from the chair and headed for the door, but turning to his house-elf before leaving, “Misty, do you mind telling Harry that I’m going down ahead?”

“Right away!” With a pop she disappeared, a second later a small shriek could be heard from Harry’s room. He chuckled as he made his way passing by her room. Even after a few years of living in the same house (as much as the ward at Number 4 would allow), Harry’s still not used to a sudden apparating of house-elf.

After a short jog down the stairs, Leo arrived at the living room, a hush conversation could be heard from inside.

“—no idea you’ve moved into this neighborhood—” Unfamiliar voice could be heard as Leo moved closer, an older gentleman sounded like.

“—for years, now. I’m surprised your spy hadn’t told you about us. We certainly weren’t hiding.” Leo heard his aunt replied.

“Hmm…. Arabella only mentioned that Miss Potter had made a friend but that was it, she didn’t say that friend is young Mister Black. I am quite surprised.”

“Is that why you are here? To see if their friendships are real? We both know an owl post would have done the job delivering the letter since my great-nephew has already known about our world.”

“Part of it, yes. I admit, my curiosity is getting the better of me.”

_Ah, it’s getting the better of me, too_. A thought raced through his mind as he stepped inside the living area. The fireplace blazed orange, warming up the whole room. And then he saw, sitting not too far from his great-aunt was an elder gentleman dressed in several decades old, three-pieces suit. His long hair and beard were color of silver. A pair of blue eyes twinkled behind half-moon lenses fixed on him when Leo stepped inside the room.

Whoever he thought he would find, Albus Dumbledore in vintage purple suit (combined with his clashing yellow scarf, the colors almost made him twitched because it reminded Leo so much of a certain psychotic villain in his first life.), was the last person he would expect.

He prayed to whatever high powers that listening to make sure Harry’s untamable mane kept her occupied until the time that Dumbledore left. Because he wasn’t sure he could handle _Armageddon Harry_ at the moment. Leo still recalled the exploding lightbulbs and fried electronics when Harry’s magic lashed out in anger. That hadn’t happened much anymore, but Harry’s moods still could be very unpredictable sometimes. Even though Leo was good at reading people, he was still having trouble predicting how his friend would act. 

Despite all the thoughts racing through his mind, Leo forced himself not to react in panic. “You called for me?”

Both of them stood up from their seats, Aunt Callisto gave him a sharp look as she replied. “Yes, my dear. I don’t know if you remembered him, but this is Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, as well as the Chief Warlock. Albus, this is my great-nephew, Leonis Black.”

Stepping forward, he held out his hand, Leo greeted politely. “How do you do, sir?”

“How do you do, Mister Black?” The elder wizard took his hand and gave it a firm shake before withdrawing.

“Please, call me Leo, Mr. Dumbledore. Mister Black is my father.” Leo said, trying to keep his voice even.

“Not while we are a school at least. And you may call me Professor or Headmaster, dear boy.” The elder wizard offered.

With the introductions out of the way, the three of them sat down. Leo was a little bit relieved for that, Dumbledore must have been a tall individual when he was younger because even at his current age, he towered both him and his aunt (who also wearing high heels). No wonder, a lot of people thought he was intimidating. He gazed past the half-moon lenses, scrutinizing Leo for a full minute, before speaking again. “I’m sure you’ve heard it all before, but you do resemble your father greatly.”

He did hear it before from none other than Aunt Callisto, the only one who really knew his father. Any other witches and wizards under his great-aunt’s employment dared not speaking of Sirius Black when Leo was present. There was no doubt that they did gossip once his back was turned though. “Thank you, sir.”

Dumbledore tilted his head to one side, his eyes flicked toward Aunt Callisto before returning to Leo, finally, he said. “A curious reaction.”

Leo steeled himself before replying. “I pay no mind to what the masses have to say about my father. I know he’s innocent. It’s just a matter of time before the world knows it, too.”

A nod from the elder wizard. “Yes, an unfortunate event. Even with my position as the Chief Warlock can do nothing until Minister Bagnold leaves the office.” He paused and fixed his blue gaze on Leo, “It will help tremendously if there’s any new evidence to support your father's innocence.”

He could feel a bonfire of anger ignited inside as Leo shook his head; he knew that already. “A rambling written in a diary can hardly be counted as evidence, sir. But that’s the thing, isn’t it? My father didn’t even get a proper trial as he should have. Bagnold hates him because he cheated her from the money she’d wanted. And all for what?.... In the end, that hag will die and no golds in the world can help her cheat death.”

“Leonis,” Aunt Callisto said in a warning tone.

He let out a long breath, berating himself for losing his temper for a second. “My apology, sir. I have a very strong dislike of our _illustrious_ Minister. I hope the next one will be less corrupt, but that’s just wishful thinking.”

“Mr. Fudge seems eager to prove himself, at least.” Aunt Callisto added airily. “I hope the man will be more reasonable than Bagnold.”

“You’re quite informed, madam,” Dumbledore said with a sad smile. “I will see if he’ll take my suggestion in re-opening the case, once he takes the office. If not, we can try Madam Bones. I’ve heard she’s going to be the new head of DMLE. However, we’re still lacking the evidence to support the case. We can try waiting for the Potters’ Wills to be read in a few years. Even with my position, I can’t force Gringotts to read the Wills before its time. Not without risking another Goblins Rebellion.”

“Understandable, Albus. And thank you for trying, at least. I know you have to be impartial for a man in your position.” Aunt Callisto thanked him sincerely. “Now, let’s get to the point of why you’re here. I’m sorry to be rude but we do need to leave the house soon; we have a reservation in London this evening.”

“Of course, madam.” The elder wizard reached inside his purple jacket and pulled out an envelope, he then handed it toward Leo. A smile accompanied as he spoke. “Congratulation, Mister Black. You have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”

Even knowing it was coming, Leo could not help but blink in surprise. He reached out and accepted the envelope from the elder wizard, hand slightly shaking. Once it was in his hands, Leo stared at it for good several minutes.

The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish color parchment. His name and address were hand-written with elegant block letters in shimmering green ink;

_Mr L. Black_  
_The Second Bedroom_  
_7 Lunaria Lane_  
_Little Whinging_  
_Surrey _

When he turned it, he could see a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms of four animals; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake; surrounding a large letter H.

_This is too surreal. I am really going to a Magic School_. Leo thought to himself. He was about to break the seal open when a loud gasp was heard. All three occupants in the room turned toward their direction.

“You’ve got your letter?!”

Standing there by the living room doorway was Hariel Potter, surprisingly dressed in a crimson velvet dress—Harry usually preferred pants and shorts than dresses and skirts unless they went out for something formal. Her usual untamable black hair pulled up in an easy ponytail, the scar displayed starkly on her bare forehead—she had been growing out the badly chopped bangs for years now. Her emerald green eyes zoned in on the letter in his hands.

_Oh, Bugger_.

Without saying anything else _Armageddon Harry_ lunged forward, startling the other two adults sitting in the same room. If Leo was anyone else, he might have reacted the same way as they did. But he spent years honing his reflex back to the way it was. He easily twisted his body sideways before the girl could body-slam into him, lifting the letter in his hand in the air and out of her reach.

“Let me see!” Harry protested and proceeded climbing up his body like a tree.

“Calm down!” Standing up to add the height, Leo clicked his tongue at the girl. “I didn’t even get a chance to open it yet, and it’s _my_ letter!”

“But you promised!” She sounded like a petulant child for a second. Her eyes pinned him an intense stare.

Leo forced himself not to roll his eyes; really, she could be so impatient sometimes. “And I will let you look at it, just, can you please calm yourself? We’re not alone, you know.”

On cue, Aunt Callisto cleared her throat loudly. Harry stiffened, slowly turning her head around to see the others in the room. “Oh,”

“Hariel dear, I’m glad you could join us.” His great-aunt’s eyes fixed them a sharp look. Harry, at least, had the decency to flush as she stepped back from him when she noticed another person in the room with them.

“Um….Hello?” She waved lamely.

“Good afternoon, Miss Potter.” Dumbledore greeted her with a smile.

Harry blinked in surprise at the elder wizard, “Good afternoon, um…?”

“Hariel, this is Albus Dumbledore, he’s the Headmaster of Hogwarts,” Aunt Callisto repeated the earlier introduction to her. 

“But you may call me Headmaster, or Professor, Miss Potter.” The elder wizard offered kindly.

Harry sat down next to him, tilting her head to one side, her eyes flashed in recognition. “Are you the one that left me with the Dursleys, sir? I think I vaguely remembered a giant and a flying motorcycle, but you’re not that tall….” The question came out of nowhere. Leo forced himself not to startle or look alarmed.

Dumbledore’s smile didn’t falter; however, his eyes dimmed a bit. “I did, dear girl. But I wasn’t the one who took you away from your parents’ house. His name’s Rubeus Hagrid, a friend of mine. I’m surprised that you even recall the memory.”

“I used to think it’s just a dream. But knowing what I know now….” she paused, her eyes narrowed at the elder man. “And with all due respect, Headmaster, you do know what kind of people my relatives are, don’t you?”

The light faded drastically from Dumbledore’s light blue eyes; his face turned grave in a matter of seconds. “I do, dear girl. But without anyone suitable to protect you, I only have a few options left. While your aunt and uncle are both muggles, they are the most inconspicuous choice. Most witches and wizards wouldn’t look for you here in the muggle world.”

Both Leo and his great-aunt tensed at the man’s words. It seemed Dumbledore still didn’t know how they had found Harry’s location. Not that he was going to tell the old wizard, of course.

Dumbledore continued speaking to Harry, however. “I had hope, that your aunt would put her childish pettiness and jealousy aside for the sake of her late sister’s daughter when she took you in—”

“Well, they didn’t.” Harry cut in; her voice sharp like a knife. The older man stopped and stared at her. “I’m not saying this to whine about how unfair my life is, sir. I know I’m in a much more fortunate place than many orphans out there. And I am grateful for the protection you left around the house, it’s just…. they really hate me, us, anything that they considered not normal for them really.” By the end, her voice dropped to almost a whisper, her eyes fixed on her the carpet in front of her. “I just wish that I don’t have to live with them….”

“I must say that’s a very mature outlook, it is commendable. But Alas, the protection surrounding the house is both ancient and powerful. It’s also not easily tinkered with even if I wanted to because the original ward wasn’t erected by me. All I did was anchored it to my own ward that I cast on top of it. And without the full schematic of the original ward, I can do nothing without compromising its potency completely. Something I cannot risk.” Dumbledore explained, his voice sincere and full of regrets. “I am sorry, Miss Potter.”

Harry fell silent after that explanation. Leo grabbed her hand and squeezed, showing reassuring support. Harry’s grip tightened and refused to let his hand go. Her green eyes brimming with unshed tears, he could tell she was doing her best not to let them fall. When he looked up at the old wizard, he was surprised to see that the man also looking down on his aged hands. His face wan and drawn, the age lines on his skin suddenly seemed to deepen. The blue eyes dimmed further than before.

Seemed to Leo that Albus Dumbledore knew of the possibility of Harry’s mistreatment by her relatives when he chose to place her there. From all his readings, as well as the information the warders had given them, Bond of Blood Spell left by Lily Potter was both ancient and powerful, it would be a waste not to utilize it. But Leo also knew that it wasn’t a decision that the elder man made lightly and he deeply regretted it.

If his father or Alice Longbottom weren’t indisposed, perhaps they would be strong enough to shield Harry from all unwanted attention and protect her. But the reality they were facing was that neither of them could do it. Perhaps, Dumbledore himself could have raised her as his ward, but that would leave him with the accusation of nepotism. As a man in his position could not afford such allegation throwing in his way. He could try to find other appropriated _light family_ to take Harry in, but after the war, so many from both sides had died, and how many could really be trusted not to abuse the fame and prestige Harry’s fame would bring.

For the first time Leo realized that Dumbledore had tried his best in an unwinnable situation, no matter how powerful he was, the man was still constrained by many factors. The Dursleys were the safest out of many alternatives, he just didn’t count on how spiteful Petunia Dursley could be.

They sat in silence for several minutes, everyone lost inside their own thoughts. Leo stared down at his name written in green ink on his unopened letter, his fingers brushed across the parchment’s surface.

Leo wondered if other Harry Potters in the multiverse had had it worse than his Harry. Finding a sport like gymnastics had elevated the severity of the situation somewhat. Did his presence change things for her? Would she still be ridiculed and bullied by her own relatives if he hadn’t inserted himself here? Leo could not find the answers to any of these questions, at least not at the moment.

If only they could find a compromise, somehow….

Suddenly, a thought popped in his mind.

“How long, Headmaster?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“How long does she have to stay there?” Leo expanded his question.

Aunt Callisto sat straight up hearing that. Harry glanced sideways at him. The blue eyes behind half-mood lenses blinked at his inquiry, the man said nothing for several minutes as if contemplating, but replied in the end. “The protection will break once she reaches the age of majority, that’s her Seventeenth birthday.”

“And how long does it take for the wards to charge per year?”

The old wizard looked intrigued now, Leo almost thought that the man was going to refuse to answer when he said. “Curious, so you do know how those wards around the house work?”

“More or less.”

“Hmm.” He hummed softly; eyes flicked to Harry who straightened up in her seat as if ruminating about something. Leo didn’t have to glance at her to know the girl had met Dumbledore’s gaze head-on; something that became a habit to her when she wanted something badly enough.

After a few minutes, the older wizard still said nothing. Hmm, perhaps some incentive was needed?

“How about an exchange, sir? Information for information?” Leo said coolly. He watched as one of Dumbledore’s pale eyebrows lifted at his words. Ignoring Harry’s nails digging into his hand, he continued. “If you tell us how long the charging period is, I will tell you how I find Harry’s location.” 

“An intriguing notion. I admit that I do wonder how you found Miss Potter, as most of the magical means would not work.” Dumbledore rubbed one thin finger on his chin thoughtfully. “I also think that you are too young to concern yourself with such matters.”

Harry snorted unladylike, “I’m sorry, sir. But that ship has sailed. My relatives had taken care of that.” The older man looked at her sadly, but she lifted her chin. “And the matter concerning _my_ safety, I have every right to know about that, I should think.”

Dumbledore fixed his gaze at Harry for a full minute, before exhaled a deep sigh. “Very well. I will agree to this, but I need you both to promise not to abuse the system.”

“Abuse it how?” Harry quickly asked, her eyes sparkled as the possibility of new freedom, however limited it might be.

“While it is true that you can charge the ward with a minimum period,” The old wizard explained, steepling his long fingers together. “The ward did more than just hide your presence, it also gives you, your aunt and your cousin some degrees of protection; I cannot be sure of its extension, however. But I think it’s better safe than sorry.”

Leo blinked. So, the ward didn’t just protect Harry, but anyone with blood-connection with Lily Potter it seemed. It made sense if you thought about it. He had a suspicion that the original ward over Number 4 Privet Drive was erected to protect Petunia and her family by Lily Potter—in secret, despite the obvious animosity between the siblings. Dumbledore later tweaked the original ward to shift the ward’s priority to protect Harry first, pushing Petunia and her family second.

“As long as the Dursleys leave me be, I have no problem staying out of their way,” Harry assured. “Dudley is a pain, but he’s avoidable, most of the time. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon’s snide no longer affects me, and as long as I keep bringing them prestige from gymnastics competitions for them to boast, they leave me alone. They might forget to feed me from time to time but Leo’s house-elf—Misty always brings me foods afterward.”

Aunt Callisto growled in her throat. Leo kept his face blank. So, they hadn’t really stopped verbally tormenting her, had they? He glanced at the old wizard whose eyes lost the twinkle completely.

“I….see,” Dumbledore said, his voice flat. “Very well. The minimum time period that you have to live in that house is two weeks per year. But I requested that you keep to the same duration as you have been doing until your time starts at Hogwarts.” He then turned toward his great-aunt. “I believe she’ll be staying here with you and young Mister Black, correct?”

“Absolutely.” Aunt Callisto said firmly.

“Thank you, sir,” Harry said with a wide smile on her face, her mood switched from solemn to joyful in a matter of seconds. If Leo hadn’t been her friend for years, he would have had whiplash. Dumbledore, however, either didn’t pick up on this or hadn’t cared too much about Harry’s change of mood, instead, he glanced expectedly toward Leo.

“Well, I guess it’s my turn,” Leo said.

“Yes, I am very curious about how you discover Miss Potter’s location. Since I’ve had most of the magical means of locating methods tested against the wards from time to time. Just to test its potency. Several scrying methods, variations of tracking charms, and decloaking spells. I know personally that none of them work.”

Well, that was more extensive than he’d expected. At least, now they knew Dumbledore did take Harry’s protection seriously. Squaring his shoulder, Leo said, “That’s just it, sir. I didn’t use any Magical methods, at all.”

The old wizard blinked in surprise. “I beg your pardon.”

“I used a muggle computer to access public records by following the trial of Harry’s mother—Lily Potter née Evans.” _Illegally_, but he didn’t say that, of course. “I’m not sure you know about this, sir. But the muggles kept almost immaculate and extensive records of its citizens, especially the last two decades. All I did was looking up Lily Evans’ muggle family. I found that only Petunia is the only living relative alive, married to a Vernon Dursley, and living in Little Whinging, Surrey.”

Silence fell in the room once more. After several minutes, Albus Dumbledore; the Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, one of the most celebrated wizards of the century, let out a laugh so out of character it startled the rest of the room. 

**: : : : : :**

“I’m sorry,” Harry said to him from where she sat, fork playing with half-eaten chocolate cake.

“For what?” Leo asked, pausing from taking another bite on his slice of pizza. His birthday cake can wait a little longer, the craving for pizza was much stronger than chocolate cake at the moment. Only because Misty had no idea how to cook one at home for him, yet.

It was hours after Dumbledore had departed from his house, now sitting together inside a private room at Ninette’s—a newly opened Chicago-style deep-dish pizzeria in Soho. The room was a decent size to host a small gathering for less than ten people, though his party only consisted of several individuals that had been frequented in his new life. Aunt Callisto, Harry, two of his great-aunt’s PA; Mrs. Carrow and Mr. Copper, and lastly was Mr. Hawke—his and Harry’s pre-Hogwarts tutor who had brought his daughter with him as Aunt Callisto’s suggestion. Since the other girl would be starting Hogwarts with them this year. Her name was Aoife. Despite her obvious Irish name, the girl was an American.

The girl was actually very nice and friendly but polite enough not to invade their space from the first meeting. Her American accent was so pronounced, it brought something nostalgic to his ears. Harry was actually a little awkward at first because she’d never made a friend before—Leo didn’t count, not really. Their friendship was kind of unusual circumstance to the norm. Slowly, Harry was warming up to the other girl. It wasn’t just the bright and cheerful attitude from Aoife played a vital part in lightened up Harry, but the fact that Aoife didn’t overly fawn over Harry’s famous scar did help as well.

From their small talk, both of them learned that Aoife had two younger siblings; a pair of fraternal twins. They had moved all over North America before coming to England where His parents wished to put down roots. Mr. Hawke now worked as a freelance Hit Wizard for the British Ministry of Magic. He tutored Leo and Harry as a part-time job in-between cases. Mrs. Hawke was a stay-at-home mom for the moment, Aoife mentioned that she might try to get a job as a waitress in the village near their home after the twins started school to help out with expenses. Paying for three magical children’s educations was not cheap after all. Despite their finance shortcoming, Aoife said that she was quite happy to move to England and was excited to start Hogwarts; she’d already gotten the letter since October. 

“For making it about me earlier.” Harry frowned, eyes watching the adults having their own conversation. Aoife had excused herself for the loo a few minutes ago, leaving the two of them in their corner. “Today is your birthday, you also just got a letter from Hogwarts, it should be _your_ day. I shouldn’t be throwing tantrum like that, especially at Professor Gandalf!”

Leo chuckled at the name, well…. Dumbledore did have similar look to the famous fictional wizard, though his outfits were much too colorful for the mantle. “It doesn’t really matter. We both know he would show up sooner or later. And considering how it went, it turned out better than I’d thought.” Much better actually. Harry’s presence had thrown Dumbledore off his track—whatever it was. Instead of focusing solely on Leo, he was too busy feeling guilty about the plight he had unintentionally put Harry through.

The grimace didn’t go away, but it lessened a little bit. “still,”

“Think of it this way, your outburst did throw him off somewhat.”

“You think?”

“I do.”

“Alright then,” Harry bit her lip, glanced sideways at him. “Another thing though, you aren’t serious when you said you’ll wait for me to get my letter so we can do school shopping together, right? I mean, I won’t get mine until July and that’s like half a year!”

Leo shrugged, “Exactly. I’m really not in a hurry. I still have time to grow before getting school robes and stuff. Who knows, I might be even taller in the next six months.” 

Harry glared at him. “Tsk! Shut it, Black.” Height was still a bit of a sore subject for Harry. While she’s no longer the shortest and smallest in class, she hadn’t added much height either even with good and balanced nutrition. Comparing to Leo who continued to grow like weeds every year, she was still a midget. Good for gymnastics, bad for everything else, she said.

“But, is it really okay? I know you were looking forward to the letter as much as I do. And I know it’s not just because of the rumors that git who married your cousin started about you being a squib either.”

Hearing Harry called Lucius Malfoy a git actually made him grin. The man was really a git in every possible way. Nevertheless, what she said was true. “I’ll admit, having proven that man wrong did make me feel a little smug,”

The girl shook her head slightly. “I can see that, but it’s more to it than that, right? That’s why I asked if it was really okay for you to wait that long to show your face to the world?”

Even after several years of knowing Harry, he was still surprised by how observant Harry was sometimes. “It’s alright. The anticipation will make my entrance even more impactful.”

Harry rolled her eyes. “Wow. And you called me dramatic!”

Their talk ended when Aoife came back from the ladies’ room. The party winded down not too long afterward.

Mr. Hawke and his daughter were first to leave for the apparition point but not before Aoife promised to write them before the school started. Mrs. Carrow and Mr. Copper left after letting Aunt Callisto know that the bills were settled just as she asked. By the time the Bentley arrived back at Number 7 Lunaria Lane, it was almost late at night. Aunt Callisto took one look at Harry’s bleary eyes before excused both of them to get some rest.

Once his nightly routines, as well as his meditation, were done, lying down in bed. He re-read his acceptance letters again. Musing at the shopping list of required school supplies. The choices of pets allowed were pretty limited, out of the three, an owl seemed to be the most practical choice but not necessary since Hogwarts Owlery provided owls for any students in need. As for the books, he would have to check his father’s library trunk to see if he had any of them, he doubted it though. 

His mind wandered away from the list and thought about the encounter again. They were lucky that Dumbledore was distracted by Harry and willing to entertain her enough out of guilt. But could there be more to it? He didn’t know the old wizard well enough to judge him. Sure, the man was famous, but how many could truly say they knew him, actually knew him and not just the image the press and the world wanted to see. But Leo was admittedly suspicious by nature, so he could be wrong about this. He needed more time to observe Dumbledore be certain of his motivations.

Finally getting Acceptance from Hogwarts, a surprise visit from Dumbledore, the talk about the possibility of re-opening his father’s case, before Harry hi-jacked the visit, the trade of information between him and Dumbledore, before ending with a birthday party at a high-end pizzeria.

_What a day_. 

Leo let out a deep sigh as he watched the ceiling, shopping lists still tugged in his hand. The excitement (stress) of the day slowly bleed away from his body, leaving only intangible aches he could not explain.

He had no idea how long the time passed before he knew it, his eyes fell close, lulled into sleep’s embrace.

**: : : : : :**

  
The sound of fluttering wings brought him out of his sleep. When Leo opened his eyes, he realized he was no longer in bed. In fact, he wasn’t lying down at all, he was standing.

Leo blinked in confusion at his surrounding, a place he hadn’t thought to see again.

The natural rock formations; stalagmites, stalactites, and columns, the distant sound of a waterfall and underground water. Contrasting it all were a number of harsh spotlights and whirling noise of machines. Leo stared down at the familiar dark silver-grey diamond plates that he was standing on; he remembered Dick had them replaced during his Batman stint—when Bruce was lost in the timestream.

The ridiculous Giant Penny was still in its place, so was the damn T-Rex. The glass display cases housing both Batman’s rouge galleries’ mementos lined one side of the cave wall; Deathstroke’s sword, Two-face’s original coin, a penguin statute, and that the Joker’s humongous playing card, to name a few. Opposite them, were where Batman’s own out-of-commission suits sat in display cases, as well as all of Robins and Batgirls. 

He was in a Batcave. _Again_.

But why? He didn’t die in his sleep, did he?

“Of course not.” An unfamiliar voice with deep timbre said from behind the desk chair in front of the Bat-computer.

Leo squinted as the chair spun around showing him a pale, thin man wearing a tailored three-piece suit in steel gray and black shinny derby shoes. His brown hair was typical but combed neatly. The man had an average, unremarkable face except for his distinct pale eyes. They seemed to glow in the shadow casting by the light shone from the computer behind, creating an eerie backlight effect. 

It wasn’t the image that made him wanted to shiver, he might have done it if he hadn’t seen half of the things he had in his previous life. Instead, it was the presence the man gave off an unsettling atmosphere, like an unusually quiet night at the cemetery. It wasn’t sinister per se, just a bit spooky.

He had an idea who this was, nevertheless, he asked. “Who are you? Why are we in the Batcave?”

“Is that where we are? Interesting. I had thought it would change after a decade in a new world.” The man replied nonchalantly, repeating the words he had heard before. His English was without any accent. He shifted in the leather seat, crossing his legs. “As for who am I, would you like to guess? You seem the types to enjoy a good mystery or two.”

“You are Death,” Leo said before frowning deeper. “Or a variation of one.” It was like this Death and the Death he’d met before was the same except not really. Not only they wore different faces, dressed, or acted differently; it was like they were different persons entirely but they were still Death. 

“Very smart, as expected of Batman’s former protégé. But not important to the scheme of things or why we’re here.” Death shifted in his seat again, unbuttoned his jacket, and pulled out a sleek, black, rectangle tablet. It looked eerily familiar to the newly produced iPad, but instead of a stylized apple, it was a scythe. Death swiped his thing finger on the screen as if looking for something. Leo blinked and decided not to say anything about it.

Instead, he asked. “Why are we here then?”

“To check in on things, of course.” Death replied with looking up from the tablet. “And to give you a few suggestions. You can ignore them if you want.”

“Not to sound ungrateful, but…. why? I thought you—well the other you and Destiny are leaving me alone to live my life as long as I guide Harry, to _wherever_ her destiny is supposed to be.”

“Because they did it without asking for _my_ permission.” Death finally looked up from his tablet, the pale eyes staring back at him rivaled even his former mentor. His expression twisted into annoyance; his voice cold. “I do not care if this timeline is one of the nexuses. I do not like interference, especially from outside of this reality. It’s not _my_ problem to fix when _someone else_ made a dumb mistake.” The entity paused for a second, “But what’s done is done. You are here, and becoming _my_ responsibility. I’ll be generous and think of you as an investment, _for now_.”

“I…. see.” Leo hid the twitch in his hand by putting them inside his pants pocket. “I thought you deities do not make mistakes.” Or that was the impression he got from his previous world’s Death; the woman might say she picked him by accidentally but he had his doubts.

Death snorted uncharacteristically, “We do. We just do not like to admit it. Now, that’s out of the way. Let’s me see here…hmm.” Death looked down at his tablet again. “Your presence alone already altered a few things for this reality.”

“And those are?” Leo asked hopefully.

“None of your concerns, as of yet.” Death said with a flick of his finger. “There are things mortal should not be privy to. But since you are now my investment, I can give you _some_ suggestions. As I said before, you are not obliged to follow them. Things need to happen without higher powers’ interference. Freewill is, after all, a powerful thing.”

“More powerful than someone of your status?”

“Of course. If I wanted to keep this job, and not thrown into oblivion. I’ll admit it’s a thankless job but I do like existing. I need to follow certain rules set by the Universe. One of them is not to directly interfere with mortals’ affair by bending their will, there’re some loopholes but we are not discussing that.” Death said. “Let’s see, first thing first, your father’s incarceration. Please, do not try to get him out, not yet anyway.”

“Excuse me?!”

Death ignored his rising temper. “The time will come when he’s out of that prison. But it is not now. You can try now, of course. You might even succeed. But that will just make things much more difficult later in a few years.”

“And you can’t tell me the reason behind it?”

“No.”

Leo rubbed his throbbing temple, only first suggestion, and Death was already giving him a headache. He really needed some time to think about this, but it wasn’t now. “What’s next?”

“Hmm, next is…..ah, here it is. Very soon, your great-grandfather is going to summon you to him. I suggest you go to him.”

Leo stared at the entity. “By great-grandfather, you mean Lord Arcturus Black. The Current Head of the House Black?” 

“Yes. The very same.”

“They didn’t even invite me to my own grandmother’s funeral because of the rumor Lucius Malfoy started,” Leo said, bitterly. “Why should I care if he summoned me now.” Or he would.

“Why not? You didn’t even like that woman, why do you care so much about it then?” Death waved his hand dismissively, “You don’t have to go, of course. But if you don’t want the House of Black to fall under the Malfoys’ hands, you should. It won’t make much difference, to me, at least. It’s a heads-up. You have a brain in your head, use it.”

The throbbing in his temple multiplied a few times over. “Is that all?”

“One last thing. It’s not a suggestion, per se. It’s a fact.” Death flicked his hand the tablet disappeared out of thin air. the deity stood up from the chair, straightened up his suit. “The Potter girl will be sorted into Gryffindor in this reality.”

That…was not surprising, actually.

After knowing what houses their parents were in during school, Harry expressed a desire to follow their footsteps. Another connection she wanted to have, as a legacy they’d left behind. But nobody would tell them how the students were sorted into houses. No books they’d read had anything written about the process of sorting, not even his copy of _Hogwarts: A History_. The two wizards that frequented their lives; Malcolm Hawke graduated from Ilvermony—American magical school, while their sorting method was intriguing, it was no help to them; and Ben Coppers—a muggleborn who worked as Aunt Callisto’s PA, who also refused to tell them anything, citing that it was a tradition every student had to go through.

The majority of the Blacks were sorted into Slytherin, excepted for his father. The Potters were majorly in Gryffindor, as were the Weasleys. The Bones were traditionally Hufflepuff. But that told him nothing of how anyone was sorted into houses.

He only knew that Slytherin was said to produce a lot of Dark witches and wizards, but it also could be said that they were just Traditionalists that held on to the old values.

So, was it the ability? Personalities? Personal Values? Potentials? If so, who was the one doing the sorting? What was the process or method?

Leo shook his head; he was getting off track though. But something Death said had sparked his interests, “You mean, in the other worlds, she’s not?”

“It’s not a guarantee. But in most realities, they are. Some even gotten sorted into Slytherin or Hufflepuff, and still saved the world just the same, albeit differently. Although most of their Ravenclaw variations tended to ignore the problems in pursuit of knowledge instead. Some realities ended completely messed up because their Harry Potters didn’t do their jobs. For example, your previous one.”

He blinked in surprise, “Wait, there is a Harry Potter in my old world, too?”

“There was. And he was also a Ravenclaw born several decades earlier than you. Instead of stopping the rise of Voldemort, he fled to live in China, changed his name, and refused to return. In the end, the whole magical community was destroyed under a span of a decade. He died a happy man though, married some non-magical girl, but no children. While the magical world was gone, the magic lives on in what you now called ‘Homo Magi’. The universe as a whole, moves on.”

Leo grimaced, that was like, the happiness of one at the price of everyone else’s. “It still doesn’t seem fair to ask someone to carry the burden of thousand especially a child, to do it.”

“It is not about fairness. That is not my job. Neither were your previous world’s Death or Destiny’s. That’s the Fates’.” Death said. “And by sending you _here_, they had put you under the Fates’ attention. And let me say, it’s not always favorable to be in the Fates’ scrutiny.” 

“Even though my being here helps Hariel?”

“Even that.” Death said with finality. “Our time is up. _Do not disappoint me_, my investment. And do try to keep the Fates entertain. Else, they might just throw something at you to entertain themselves.”

“I thought you said the higher powers can’t interfere directly with mortals?”

“Only if the things throwing at you will not impact the outcome too much. And they are the Fates. They poke at mortals’ affair since the creation.”

With that, Death spun on his heels and disappeared with a cloud of black smoke.

Leo blinked once, and the Batcave was gone. Realized that he was looking up at the familiar ceiling, under the thick blanket in his room at Little Whinging once more. The clock on his desk showed it was only a quarter to three, the sky was still dark outside if it wasn’t for the street lamps.

He sat up, ignoring the blanket that fell sideways. He barely felt the winter chill because of the radiator installed in his room.

Was his mind playing tricks on him because of all the stress from today, and he had dreamed it all up? Or was it really this world’s Death visiting him in his dream?

He rubbed his face, the thoughts from what Death had told him bouncing around in his head. For a moment he sat there, in the darkness of his room. Wondering if it was good or bad about knowing all that information.

When the first light seeped its way into his room, Leo still sat there, deep in his own thoughts. It was until loud knocks on his door and Harry’s voice called him to breakfast that he realized he had not gone back to sleep that night at all.

**: : : : : :**

Conversation with Death still had him reeling for weeks afterward. He was sure that his great-aunt and Harry noticed his restless behavior. But both knew him well enough to leave him to sort himself out.

Warning or not, there was no way in hell he’s going to stop trying to help his father out of Azkaban. At least, that what Leo had decided.

As for the other warning, he had heard nothing at all from the Blacks.

Their term finals finished without much fanfare. Christmas/Yule came soon afterward along with winter break. A few days after New Year arrived, the news of Millicent Bagnold’s passing was announced in the Daily Prophet. A week later, Cornelius Fudge was sworn into his office and became the new Minister of Magic. Leo, his great-aunt, and two of her PA spent his last few days of winter break trying to put someone into the minister’s newly formed cabinet as their spies. Harry while taken no part in this, watched with vivid interest for a while before excused herself to use the training room in the basement. She had been doing that whenever the club closed during the holidays, spring competition was coming up soon.

It wasn’t until the last day before the winter hols ended when a majestic grey-colored owl tapped excessively on their kitchen window during Breakfast. The three of them looked up from their plates. 

“That’s…. Circinus.” Aunt Callisto gasped and quickly stood up from her seat.

Leo felt his heart dropped from his chest, “The Black Family’s owl?”

House of Black always carefully selected a great grey owl as the official family owl; all of them were named Circinus—after the French constellations. Generations of Circinus were exclusively used by the Head of House Black, in official business only. Even the letters his late grandmother sent him every year were not carried by Circinus, instead, they were delivered by various owls, possibly from ones from the owl post. That was why neither he nor Aunt Callisto had ever taken her threat seriously. They both knew it wasn’t official decree from Head of House Black.

He pulled himself out of his thoughts when his great-aunt shuffled toward the window, unlocking and opening it, letting the large bird swooped inside the house. It landed in the middle of their table, right in front of Leo, sticking out the leg that had an envelope tied to it out for him.

He stared at the bird, who stared back at him with its orange eyes. The owl barked unhappily, with a flap of its wings almost knocking his milk glass over as if telling him to hurry up and take the letter. A slight grimace formed on his face as he complied. He quickly untied the envelope from the bird's leg. He glared down at his name addressing him on the parchment. Death’s warning echoed in his ears. Circinus squawked and fluffed itself before moving toward the bacon plate. 

“Huh? They really do use owls to send posts! But this is morning, should it be sleeping now? I thought owls are nocturnal?” Harry eyed the bird picking up a piece of bacon with its beak, eating it, incredulously.

“Most owls are nocturnal, but Circinus is a magical owl, dear. Magic and training compensate for that. Magical post-owls do sleep during the day if they don’t have any delivery.” Aunt Callisto as she sat back down at the table with a bowl filled with water for the owl. Ignoring Harry who still stared at the large bird of prey sitting in the middle of the breakfast table. Instead, she glanced at Leo who had opened the letter and read it silently.

Leo let out a shuddering breath. He closed his eyes after finishing the content of the letter. His eyes lifted and met with Aunt Callisto’s. He answered her silent inquiry. “I’ve been summoned by Head of House Black.” The words tasted like ash in his mouth.

Both his great-aunt and Harry snapped their attention to him. “What?!”

**: : : : : :**

“Are you sure you want to do this, love?” Aunt Callisto asked him again, both of them stood on a muggle’s street called Grimmauld Place, located in Islington, one of the northwestern boroughs of London.

In front of them sat a muggle townhouse row. All of them were built in simple Georgian style, all had been modernized to fit with time. There was only one house that wasn’t—Number 12 Grimmauld Place.

Leo grimaced at the state of the house; the rust-crusted balconettes, grimy windows, cracked bricks, stains and mold lining the exterior. He believed this townhouse was a handsome place, once. Or it should have been with the corrected upkeep. He eyed the muggles on the sidewalks and in the small square across the street, both adults and children, walking their dogs and playing in the snow, paying no mind to either of them, as if they could not see them at all. Aunt Callisto had told him that the muggles had long since accepted the ‘mistake’ which only showed Number 11 and 13 houses, but not Number 12 which was protected by magic. Leo and Aunt Callisto wouldn’t be able to see at all if not for the Black blood running through their veins. (In Aunt Callisto’s case, even as a squib, the house still recognized a silver of family magic within her.)

A few days had passed since the summon came, just as Death had told him. Lord Black had demanded his immediate presence at the Black residence in London, the only residence the Blacks still have running in Britain. Since not many of them were alive (and had not been disowned in some forms) at this point. Leo had sent a reply back that he would visit during the weekend, because of school. Lord Black had not been Happy but grudgingly accepted the compromise.

So, here he was, dressed in finest steel-grey robe they could find with a rush owl-order, at least it came with a warming charm that protected him from the biting cold of January morning. Leo glanced back at the black Bentley parking without turning off the engine in front of Number 11. He could see Harry’s face leaned against the backseat window, watching him with a worrying look. He gave her a nod before turning back to Aunt Callisto. “Yes. This will help us in the future, more than hurt us.” Hopefully.

Aunt Callisto’s face darkened even more. “Don’t get your hopes up, Leonis. I know this family better than you do.”

“If this is about what I think it is, then, it’s better that I’m here.”

“And I hope that you’re right.” She patted his shoulder one more time. “Call for Misty when you’re ready to head home.” She bent down and dropped a kiss on his forehead. “Good luck, love.”

With a gentle push, Leo stepped forward, up the cracked stone steps of Number 12. He could feel Aunt Callisto’s eyes on his back, knowing she would wait until he entered the house properly before leaving. The black paint on the door was shabby and scratched. Unlike the rest of the houses on the street, there was no keyhole or letterbox. His eyes fixed on the silver knocker shaped of a twisted serpent as if it would come to life and bite his handoff. Warily, he decided against it and gone for the antique twist-doorbell instead. Leo grabbed the cold, warn brass, and twisted. A tingle sensation ran from where his hand had touched the metal, he snapped his hand back quickly.

A few seconds later, after many loud clicking noises and the clatter of a chain, the door creaked open.

Exhaling the breath, he hadn’t known he had been holding back, Leo gave a last look over his shoulder at Aunt Callisto. She gave him an assuring nod, which he answered with one of his own. Leo turned back to open the door, he pushed it wider and stepped forward inside.

As soon as he was clear from the doorway, the door itself slammed shut. Leo forced himself not to flinch from the impact. Instead, trying to concentrate on where he was; a dark and narrow hallway. Sunlight barely able to penetrate through the grimy windows and moldy curtains, the only source of light was the gas lamps lining the walls, giving eerie lights. There was an ornated door from his immediate left. In front of him, Leo spied a large overhead chandelier and a grand staircase.

Peeling and fading green wallpaper, or was that just mold color? He wasn’t sure. Several rectangle discolorations on the wall indicated that once upon a time, there were possible quite a few portraits hung on this wall. Now, Leo could only a lone frame hang by his right, covered with velvet green curtain. And not too far away, lining from the top wall were heads of house-elves mouthing in grotesque fashion.

He remembered from his father’s diary mentioning how the Black house-elves prided themselves on having their head displayed on the wall, for loyal and dedicated services performed for House of Black. The ridiculousness….

“He comes…. The brat that broke Mistress’s heart.” A scratchy voice came from the corner of the hallway. Leo tensed as he turned and saw a small thin humanoid-shaped of a house-elf, an old one, dressed dirt-stained sack with fading House of Black's coat of arms embroidered on. 

“Hello.” Leo greeted politely, because, Manners.

“Never owled Mistress back….. Ungrateful snot-nose brat, just like his blood-traitored father…” The elf continued to mumble as if he hadn’t heard the greeting at all. Leo’s eyebrow lifted at the insults spouting from the old elf, not sure if he should be offended or suspected that the elf might have been insane. The possibility was there, after years of living with Misty, he knew enough about house-elves to know that no self-respecting house-elves would ever let the residence of their owners fell into a state of such disrepair, like this house. Unless he was ordered to do so. Hm…. maybe.

“Kreacher! Where is my guest?!” A voice bellowed from upstairs, startled him. Kreacher, apparently the elf’s name, bodily flinched, but before he could reply the green curtain over the large frame flew open. A high-pitch screech rang through the narrow hall.

Leo covered his ears from the noise before spied that the ornate frame was indeed a portrait of an old lady. Dressed in black witch robed, contrasting with her pale, aged visage. Her hair grayed and pulled in an elegant updo, also contrasted with the ugly expression on her painted face. Leo knew this was only a portrait, but the artist must have been skilled to capture such lifelikeness of this woman. 

“WHO DARE DISTURB THE NOBLE AND MOST ANCIENT HOUSE OF BLACK?!”

“M…Mistress….” The old elf trembled as he reached for the portrait, the woman kept on screaming at the poor elf like a rapid-fire machine gun.

Ah. So, the portrait was no other than his own grandmother; Walburga Black. No wonder she looked almost identical to Aunt Callisto, though older, her expression more severed. It was like the sneer left permanent lines on her face, or maybe that was how she was painted?

Pitying the poor elf, Leo decided to pull her attention from the creature. “Good afternoon, _grandmother_.”

Just like that, the woman in the portrait snapped her face to where he stood. The famous Black’s grey eyes narrowed down to a slit, her nostril flared. “_You!!_—YOU UNGRATEFUL FILTH!! How dare you step foot in he—”

“He’s here because I commanded him to.” A deep gravelly voice spoke, one that Leo identified as the same that had bellowed from upstairs. Leo turned toward the grand staircase to see an elderly gentleman, dressed in traditional-cut, midnight-colored wizard robe, in his hand a walking cane. The lines of his age etched deep on his face, his hair and beard the same shade of silver as Dumbledore’s but both were trimmed short; his pale eyes reflected poorly under the badly lit hallway.

This could only be one man; the one had who summoned his presence. The current head of House of Black; Lord Arcturus Black.

“Lord Black,” Leo bowed and greeted the man politely just as he had been taught.

Leo spotted a twitch in the corner of the older man’s lips. No greeting reply in return, instead Lord Black said, “At least, you have manners. Come, we have much to discuss.” 

He turned and head up the stairs, but Walburga Portrait had another idea. Because her screech was a pitch higher. “FATHER! HOW COULD LET FILTH LIKE HIM DIRTYING THE HALL OF OUR ANCESTORS—” 

“As if I can do any worse, from the look of it.” Leo simply said and moved to follow. Wow, Harry’s habits were really rubbing off on him.

The portrait screamed; eyes bulged. She looked about to tear out from the canvas and claw at him. “HOW DARE YOU TO ME LIKE THIS?! I AM A SCION OF HOUSE OF BLACK—”

“Shut your mouth, you stupid girl!” Lord Black swung back toward the portrait; he bared his teeth dangerously. Faster than Leo could see, a wand was in his hand, pointing down at the ornate frame of Walburga. “Haven’t you done enough?! All you do is driving away all my heirs!! One of my grandsons is rotting in Azkaban, another probably died in a ditch somewhere because of your so-called Dark Lord!! I’d hoped that death would _curb _your bloody habits. That’s the only reason I’ve allowed your Merlin-damned portrait here! Don’t forget I can blast it out of the ward, to the _muggle_’s street!”

He hissed out the last word and with a flick of his wand, the curtain slid shut once more. The screech cut out, leaving only silence.

“Kreacher, bring us tea and snack to the drawing-room. And be quick about it!” Lord Black snarled before turning around and walked up the stairs, no longer waiting for the elf to answer.

“Yes, master….” The elf bowed low before disappeared with a pop. Leaving him alone by himself. Leo took a deep breath, ignoring the musty smell he caught and quickly followed the elderly man.

The sound of walking cane tapping on the wood floor created the staccato that echoed through a quiet hallway. At least there wasn’t any dust on the stairs, but that possibly because it had been used too often to collect any. When Leo came up the first landing, he was surprised that the space had expanded, instead of the narrowed hallway he saw downstairs. If he didn’t know about wizarding-space, it might have shocked him greatly.

The hallway was still decorated with gas lamps. Wallpapers in several shades of green dominating the wall with hints of silver, they were worn and faded but not as grungy as the ground floor. Several ornate frames lined the wall, most were empty, some were landscapes. Leo didn’t have enough time to observe more because Lord Black turned and made an immediate left on the first door which he quickly followed inside. 

He was surprised, the drawing-room was kept cleaner than he’d expected. The room was dominatingly decorated in dark colors. The front windows were cleaned of grim enough that natural light could come through. The fire crackled from a large cast-iron fireplace. The mantlepiece looked to be made of black marble, artfully crafted. It was flanked by two glass-fronted cabinets, displaying many unidentified objects. The furniture was made of intricately crafted dark woods. The upholstery in black, silver, and gold wasn’t dusty but faded and indeed of reupholstering. A grand piano sat not too far away. Nearby was an owl-stand where Circinus perched, the bird was sleeping with the head under its wings. It stirred only a moment when sensing movements in the room, but quickly went back to sleep.

However, what caught his full attention was on the far end of the wall; the floor to ceiling tapestry of the Black family tree.

His father wrote briefly about it. But it was clear that Sirius Black resented it; Leo remembered one passage said that Sirius’s mother had loved the thing more than she loved him. It was from Aunt Callisto who educated him about it. 

The tapestry looked positively ancient, and it was, considering it was created in the Middle Ages. The main tree too faded and worn to actually make out what was said, but the golden threads embroidery glinted enough to see that they spread outward, the newer the names the clearer it could be seen. Among them, several names were burned holes in their places, no doubt from the people that were disowned.

“_En Stirps Nobilis et Gens Antiquissima Black_.” He read the Latin line inscribed on the top of the tapestry frame. On top of it was House of Black’s coat of arms; a wand and three crows under a sinister skull. Under it, the motto shone in silver, in French this time, “_Toujours Pur_.”

“Indeed.” Lord Black said from where he sat in front of the living chair, in front of the fireplace. Kreacher reappeared with a tray of tea and snack, he set up on the center table quietly and quickly before Lord Black dismissed the elf with a flick of his hand. The elderly man waved his hand for Leo to sit down. He waited until Leo sat down on one of the seats before continued. “I see that you had been educated properly. I’ve had my doubt about Sirius. I recall how stubborn grandson is, I wonder if he would ever teach you anything about this family willingly. I wouldn’t be surprised if you knew anything about us.”

If it was up to his father then, he wouldn’t know a thing at all. “My father leaves the guardianship of me to Aunt Callisto.”

The corner of Lord Black lifted slightly, but not quite a sneer. “Pollux’s youngest, _the squib_?”

“Yes.” He watched the older man carefully for any contempt or distaste, instead, he saw…. bitterness?

A distant look lingered on the elder man’s face. “I always had such high hope for that girl. Such a shame she turned out the way she is…”

Offended on his great-aunt’s behalf, Leo cut in, “There’s nothing wrong with Aunt Callisto.”

Lord Black turned his pale eyes to him, his face darkened. “Of course, there is. She’s a _squib_. Not a drop of magic in her blood—”

“But she does have magic, sir. She can still feel most ward, uses the floo, flies on a broom, and brew most potions. Just not enough to cast spells.” Leo said sharply. “And besides, it’s not _her_ fault. It’s you and this family.”

The old wizard’s face twisted into something ugly. “And how is that it's our family’s fault, _boy_? Pray tell?”

Keeping his face as neutral as possible, Leo said, “It’s because of all the inbreeding—”

Lord Black’s expression looked almost thunderous. “It’s to keep our blood pure!!—”

“It’s not.” He cut in again. “All it does is making us weaker. Magic needs renewing, adding new power to our bloodline. All this marrying our own cousins have all but squash the potential to grow. It’s also explained why many of our houses are skeptical to insanity.” Leo didn’t want to reference the muggle’s studies on genetics, he knew it would only enrage the man even more. “Look at the Gaunts. Do you still not see what has become of them?”

“And what is a _boy_ like you know, huh?” The man retorted darkly.

“The evidence speaks for itself.” Leo shrugged nonchalantly. “There are many powerful halfbloods in this century alone. Albus Dumbledore for example. If I was correct, his mother was an American muggleborn.” The name of the old wizard made Lord Black’s face twisted again. If Leo recalled correctly, the man possibly went to school at the same time as Dumbledore. “And…… Hariel Potter is also a halfblood.”

“She’s also a Potter.”

He had debated bringing Harry’s parents into the conversation. But if it helped him make a point, “Her mother is a muggleborn. She was called one of the smartest witches of her generation. A prefect and a Head Girl, she graduated with a Charm Mastery. She would have probably earned another if she hadn’t passed away. Rumors have it, that she and her husband dueled the Dark Lord more than once and survived.”

“What good would that do, they’re still dead in the end.” The man said dismissively.

Leo wanted to retort but held back for now. “James and Lily Potter might have died in the end, but went out with dignity. They fared better than some of the purebloods that bowed and kissed the madman’s feet just to survive. They’d waited to ride that man’s coattails to wizarding glory. And look at what happened, an _halfblood_ toddler born from their union defeated him.”

Lord Black looked away from him but said nothing. Leo exhaled slowly, eyes glancing at their untouched tea and snacks. The steams were all gone, it probably had gone cold already. This had gone on long enough.

“Why did you summon me here, Lord Black?” 

Instead of replying, the older man stood up from his seat, grabbing his walking cane, and walked toward the Family Tapestry. For the first time that day, Leo noticed that the man was walking with a limp. The elder wizard stopped in front of the tapestry and gestured for him to follow. To humor him, he did.

“Did you know, I was awarded Order of Merlin during the war with Grindelwald?” Lord Black said, his aged hand touched the old fabric. Leo’s eyes tracked through numbers of names until he found Arcturus Black III and Melania McMillian. The Current Lord Black’s name shone golden, while his wife’s name in faded black; possibly indication of being dead? Under his name before the gold thread spread outward, _O.M. (First Class)_ was embroidered in silver. 

Leo had not known that. Aunt Callisto did tell him that Lord Black had gone to war during Grindelwald’s reign in the 40s, which happened at the same time as the Muggle’s WWII.

“I did not join with the Wizard Alliance, at first. The Blacks have always firmed believers of the wizarding superiority. But even then, we had our pride. None of us would bow down to a foreign upstart like Grindelwald.” The older man sneered and turned; his pale eyes fixed at Leo. “But Grindelwald still coveted the power our family possessed, he wanted us to be on his side. He tried to negotiate with us, my father refused him, more than once. The man had not proven himself worthy of our wands. So, the Blacks would stay neutral, until that changed.”

“And did that change?” He prompted, actually curious. He had not known that the Blacks stayed neutral for someone like Grindelwald.

“Yes, for the worse.” Lord Black’s eyes unfocused as he continued his tales. The man’s fingers caressed his wife’s name on woven fabric. “Under the guise of another negotiation, Grindelwald came to the Black Hall—our country residence, but this time instead of enjoyed our hospitality, he and the people he brought attacked us. Hoping to break our Ward from within. He was quickly expelled, of course. But the damages were already done. My father, my beloved wife, a contingency of our house-elves, dead. My sister Lycoris laid comatose from spell damage, she might as well be dead. Our country estate was damaged so extensively, we had to relocate here.

“And so, in the haze of my vengeance, I left the Black lordship, as well as my children to my brother—Pollux, temporarily. Before going off to join the war, killing as many as that bastard’s dogs. I spent years doing nothing but kill and maim the opposition, still, I couldn’t get to Grindelwald himself. It was until I suffered a severe injury, they slapped me with an Order of Merlin. When I could no longer fight, they sent me home.” The old wizard shifted his weight carefully. Leo caught it and guessed that the injury was possibly on one of his leg, or both. “A few weeks later, Albus bloody Dumbledore defeated him. The masses celebrated his triumph. While I came home to find my own son married off to his cousin. Several marriage contracts were drawn between the Blacks and several of the pureblood families. And a few of my own family blasted off the tree, for one reason or another.” 

Ouch. That didn’t sound good.

“I was furious. But I was also exhausted and still grieving. My dream of vengeance left forever unfulfilled.” His tone, full of bitterness. “So, even after taking back the Lordship, I didn’t fully take back responsibility. I shut myself in this house, either in my study or my room, talking to my wife’s portrait, pretending she was still alive. The next thing I know, a new Dark Lord rose, much worse than before. Because whatever left of my house had all but join him under Pollux’s lead! My own brother! He all but gave away our riches and artifacts to that _boy_!”

Leo blinked; he had never heard anyone referred to the dark lord as a boy before. Did Lord Black know him before the man became Lord Voldemort?

“I was too late to pull our support then. Pollux had passed from the mysterious circumstance. My son, Orion was too soft then, he let Walburga ran the house’s business however she pleased. And in result, she drove Sirius—my heir, away. She pushed Regulus into the man’s service even before he finished Hogwarts. The boy disappeared, no one knew how he died, just that he did. She also blasted several people off the family. And her brother, Cygnus all but sold their daughters for nothing but an empty promise. The only thing that brought me such laughter was when his second daughter eloped with that muggleborn! Hah!”

Leo tried to recall what he knew of Cygnus Black. He was the second child of Pollux, younger brother to Walburga, older brother to Alphard and Callisto. He also fathered the famous ‘Black sisters’; Bellatrix, Andromeda, and Narcissa. The eldest married into Lestrange family, the youngest into the Malfoy. Andromeda, though, was disowned for eloping with a muggleborn named Edward Tonks. As Aunt Callisto told it, it was a scandal of the decade. His great-aunt had reached out to her once, but for whatever reason, Andromeda had not kept in contact with her after the first few attempts. Aunt Callisto didn’t go further into it, and Leo didn’t pry. He had a feeling, there was a much deeper issue between them. 

However. “A fascinating tale, sir. But it still did not tell me why I am here.” 

Lord Black moved away from his wife’s name; his hand trailed to the names downward. “Look for yourself.”

Leo followed his hand. From Lord Black and his wife, there were two lines; one was Lucretia Black (now, a Prewett) in bright gold. And another link to Orion Black and Walburga Black; both names also in black. The gold thread spanned downward to two names; on the right; Regulus Arcturus Black, was in black. And the left one was Sirius Orion Black, surprisingly the area around his name looked new and pristine as if someone had done a patch job on it. His father’s name linked to blackened Marlene Tamara McKinnon and under them was his own name; Leonis Timotheus Black.

He blinked in surprise. His father, as well as Aunt Callisto, had mentioned on more than one occasion that Sirius had been blasted off a family tree since he was sixteen. But here his name was, bright and golden, stark against the woven textile.

“I had my suspicion that it was Orion who did it, before his death.” Lord Black offered his thought.

Leo frowned; Orion Black had passed away only a few years after Voldemort’s fall, the obituary said that he died from an illness. But the grapevine said it was from a broken heart; the eldest son was in jailed and another mysteriously died in the Dark Lord’s service. Some said that he died just to get away from his nasty wife, which sounded quite excessive. But after meeting the remnant of his grandmother, Leo started to think the rumor might have had some truth to it.

“But why?.... I’d thought grandfather wasn’t approved of Father.” Leo voiced his question.

“That I do not know. He didn’t even consult me—the current Head of House, inactive or not. Even Walburga didn’t have any idea about it until a few years after he was gone. And then it was too late to revoke it. No matter how many times she’d tried to blast his name off again. Orion’s magic was stronger than her, even though his body wasn’t.” Lord Black shook his head slightly, but there was a nasty smirk on his lips. “I still remember that stupid girl’s screaming when she found out. What a day it was.”

The corner of his lips twitched in amusement. His suspicion was correct that Lord Black _really_ disliked Walburga.

“Grandmother tried to, no, she demanded to have me to be sent here. To be raised _correctly_, her words in the letters.” Leo said with a shake of his head, “Aunt Callisto refused her every year.”

“And, did you want to come here?”

“No. Aunt Callisto asked, more than once, if I wanted to be with my family. I told her, I already am.” Leo said firmly, locked eyes with the elderly wizard. “Grandmother insulted her, her own sister’s worth in every letter. So what if she was cast out of this family? She still went on and made something of herself. With some help, sure, but she still did it. All the money, fortunes, and prestige denied to her by this House. She made it all her own. She successfully runs a conglomerate made up of both magical and non-magical, while many of the pureblood families went into bankruptcy after the war.” Look at this house, he wanted to say. “And she’s family no matter if she can cast spells or not.”

“From what I’ve seen, she does educate you about us.”

“She does. She said that it’s still my birthright.” Leo nodded. “She almost hired the best tutors she could find for my pre-Hogwarts education, foreign languages most pureblood children should learn, wizarding etiquettes, estate management, just to name a few. But most importantly, she loves and raises me like I was her own. Not just because I am an obligation or agenda to be fulfilled. I couldn’t care less if growing up with her made me looked like a blood-traitor to some people. If my connection to her brought me nothing, then _I_ will make something out of it. And it will be _mine_.”

To his surprised, Lord Black snorted. “You are truly Sirius’s son.”

Leo lifted an eyebrow at the statement, but the other man turned and stepped away from the tapestry. He went and sat down in his seat once more. “If you’ve been educated as you said then you know that unlike some magical families, the Blacks are strictly patriarchy.”

“Yes.” He did know. Most magical families were. But some like the Blacks, the Lestranges, the Prewetts were strictly patriarchy; only male heirs could inherit the House’s headship. On the other hand, some families like the Bones was Matriarchy; only female heirs could hold on the House’s Ladyship. And then there was a family like the Potters, who care nothing about gender when Head of the house was concerned, both male and female had carried on the Head of House title. But then again, the Potters were always outliners.

Leo added, “I thought, you would have announced the heir title already. Lucius Malfoy has not been subtle in monopolizing that his son will take the Headship of House Black.” 

“_Never!_“ Lord Black snarled; his face twisted uglily, his body shaking. Leo was surprised at the sudden hostility in his tone. “I’d rather died heirless than let that little self-important brat and his greedy father get his hands on our house! And this is the reason of your summon, boy. _You_ will be my heir. You will inherit the Lordship of this House, bring back the glory to our nam—”

Suddenly, the man coughed, and he coughed some more. Then it turned into wheezing, a struggled for air. The older man clawed at his own chest, his other hand grasping at air.

Panic, he rushed to the elderly wizard’s side. Pushing aside his uncertainty about the man for the moment, Leo couldn’t just let him choke to death. Sweats poured down the wizened, pale face. For the first time today, the older man looked like a century old. Lord Black wheezed out the words or at least tried to. “Cal….call…Krea..kre..me…cine”

Knowing what the man wanted, with waiting, Leo shouted. “KREACHER!!”

A faint pop, “The blood-traitor brat calls for Kreacher—how dare he—”

Having no time for the elf’s antic, Leo snapped. “Kreacher! Bring me Lord Black’s medicine, now!”

The old elf’s eyes went wide when he saw his master’s state. Without saying nothing else, the elf popped away only to come back a few seconds later with a glass vial in his trembling hands. “Me…medicine…for…master…”

Leo grabbed it quickly, unscrewing the vial as he asked. “Dosage?”

“Five drops in master’s throat.”

“Alright. Here, hold him stead for me.” Leo eyed the purple liquid dubiously, the color looked dangerous but most magical potions were. He waited until the elf snapped his finger, the trashing body of Lord Black stilled, mouth hung open, held immobile by magic. Fascinated that the old elf listened to him at all, but had no time to ponder about it. Leo carefully pulled the dropper out of the glass vial. He held it above the elderly wizard’s opened mouth before dripped the liquid down precisely five drops as instructed.

As soon as the older man swallowed the last drop, the elf let go of his stasis. Lord Black slumped down toward Leo, who quickly caught him. He handed Kreacher glass vial before gently lower the older man on the sofa. Lord Black’s breathing came easier, the wheezing ceased. His eyes fluttered close for a moment.

Exhaled in relief, Leo turned to ask Kreacher. “Is there anything else we need to give him?”

“Nothing else. Medicine be working for master now….” Kreacher whispered back with an odd look on his face.

“Should we bring him to his room? He can rest easier there?”

“You…will…do…none…of…that.” Lord Black rasped from where he was, eyes still closed but his hand waved weakly.

“I’m sure that we can continue our talk at a later date—”

“I said, no.” Leo was cut off by Lord Black before he could finish. The older man struggled to sit up by himself, Leo let him do as he wished. From the posturing of his arms and expression, the man wanted to maintain whatever dignity he had left.

“As you can see, my health is failing more and more each day. The longer we wait, the less time we have to get things done.” Lord Black took a deep breath and straightened his robe from the non-existing crease. “As I said before, you will be my heir, the heir of House of Black.”

Leo knew better than the bring the issue of Malfoy Jr’s candidacy up again. Instead, he said, “My father should have been your heir, not me.”

“No, his mule-headedness alone would bring our house to an end, just because of the sheer spite he holds for Walburga.” The elder wizard glanced at him. “You on the other hand…”

“You don’t even know me,” Leo tried to say,

“I might be anti-social. But I still have eyes and ears everywhere. Who do you think taught your great-aunt to put spies in the pureblood circle? Despite our house’s disdain toward our…. lesser relatives, we’re still keeping eyes on them, _on you_. I know that you found the Potter girl.” 

The words sent a chill down his spine, but Leo refused to show his worry, not now. “I don’t know what—”

“Don’t bother denying it.” The older wizard gave him a side-eyed glance. “I don’t know how, or why you did it, frankly I don’t need to know. It’s that you managed to outmaneuver Dumbledore at all, that’s important. Everyone knows he was the one who secreted the girl away.” A smug look on his face made Leo’s temple twitched. “It’s a good move to befriend someone like her.”

“I’m not being friends with her so it could benefit me.” Leo retorted with a scowl. But Lord Black just waved his hand.

“The reason does not matter, you still did it. That’s the important part.” The older man fixed his pale eyes on him. “I am old and dying, boy. My time is running out, and to be honest I am tired. I wanted to be reunited with my wife and son. But I can’t leave this world when the state of our house is in shamble. That Malfoy boy may have the right upbringing and blood purity, but he doesn’t have what our house needs to survive. But you….” He paused, looking away from Leo. “Surprisingly, Sirius manage to produce a pureblood heir, however unintentional it was. You still have the correct blood. You also have the cunning and tenacity. Because if you haven’t, you probably couldn’t find where that girl lives. I believe you might just be what we need to bring the glory back to the Black name.”

“Even if that glory is not one and the same as our House’s ideals?”

“Or perhaps our ideals need to change. The world is changing every day. I wouldn’t have outlived both my wife and son if I was truly ignorant. And you will be leading our house toward a new era.”

“You seem to have so much confidence in me,” Leo said, dryly. “I haven’t even agreed to it yet.”

“And I didn’t ask, did I? I’m telling you, boy, that you are to be my heir and the next Head of our House. To glory or to ruin…. Our house shall be in your hands.” Lord Black said with his chin lifted stubbornly. Leo could only lift an eyebrow at the older man’s resolution. 

He hadn’t wanted the title of the Black heir, not when it came with extreme prejudice. Lord Black might not support the last two Dark Lords but didn’t mean he was open-minded to all the mix-blood policies. He didn’t stop Walburga from blasting off ‘lesser’ family members. He didn’t step in when Bellatrix or Narcissa married into the Dark Lord’s supporters. He only did something when Malfoy Sr. spread the rumors that Leo was a squib because it was getting out of hand. So, he might have lied about the true reasons the man had for wanting him as an heir…… or he might not.

But Leo wasn’t above taking advantage of the situation. He’d used everything and anything if it might benefit him in the future. And with Death’s ‘warning’ he couldn’t afford to let this opportunity slipping away.

And from the look that the older man had, he knew it as well.

So, Leo let out a deep sigh and accepted what fates had in store for him. “It’s not like I can say no.”

“It’s not that you can’t. You won’t.” Lord Black smiled smugly, his face looking vaguely like Sirius’s, a reminder that they were really related. The man didn’t let Leo mused further though. He grabbed his walking cane and turned to the elf whom Leo had forgotten he was still there. “Kreacher, go prepare for our departure.”

“As master wishes…” The elf bowed low and disappeared.

Lord Black’s eyes were on him, his pale eyes glinted under the light. “Let’s us go and make it official, shall we?”  
  


**: : : : : :**

Number 7 Lunaria Lane was always toasty and warm, that was exactly how he felt when he returned with Misty. The elf had apparated them straight to Leo’s room. After a cold day out like he had, it brought him unimaginable comfort. Misty excused herself to finish diner after letting him know that Aunt Callisto was still in London for a business dinner. So, it was only he and Harry tonight.

Earlier today, after leaving 12 Grimmauld Place, they arrived at the apparition point near the Leaky Cauldron before Noon and went straight for Gringotts. Both of them walked through the alley with their heads held high, ignoring the looks and gossips throwing their ways. Some people even drove out of the way when they walked through.

At Gringotts, Lord Black had introduced him to their account manager; a goblin named Odbert. They set up and signed the necessary documents for Leo to have some autonomy before he would be of age, or after Lord Black’s passing. No other adults with Black blood would be able to claim his guardianship or have any access to any of the Black vaults under his names. Unless he specified so. Leo had planned to make Aunt Callisto’s proxy, despite Lord Black’s disapproval. They both knew that the older man could do nothing about it since there was no one else befitting for the job unless he restored Andromeda Tonks back into the family. Something which Lord Black still refused to do so. 

The older wizard made him go shopping for school supplies right afterward. He insisted on Leo purchased only the best quality. Leo could not say no to him, not after the foul mood Leo had put him in. Even though he had to break his promise to do his school supplies shopping with Harry.

Leo looked around the room at the school supplies he had purchased today with Lord Black. On his bed, boxes of newly made robes from Twilfitt and Tatting's; for schools and other occasions. A school trunk with expanding compartments sat by the end of his bed, a bit expensive but it would last him for years to come. Textbooks, as well as extra books recommended by Lord Black, stacked neatly on his desk. High-quality stationaries; parchments, inks in different colors and quills; were put nearby. Other apparatus; pewters, potion vials, potion ingredients, telescope; were at the other end of the room.

Last was a cage for his newly purchased owl; a great horned owl. Lord Black had bought the owl for Leo as congratulation gift, for being accepted at Hogwarts; he said it’s a tradition that most parents would give their children a pet to celebrate. The bird eyed him and tracked his movement with its yellow eyes. He still had not named it yet.

Misty had made several trips today; to and from Diagon Alley, so he didn’t have to carry them. The only thing Leo had kept with him afterward was his newly acquired wand from Ollivanders; 12 ¾”, Fir with Phoenix feather core. Lord Black had bought him an arm holster and told him to keep a wand on his person at all times. Good advice, if a bit paranoid. It wasn’t like he knew how to use it just yet.

Not wanting to put away his stuff just yet, Leo quickly changed out of his wizard robe into a casual one. He left the wand in the holster on his arm and went searching for Harry.

It didn’t take him long to find her. If she wasn’t in her room or study room, there was only one more place she would likely be; the basement.

The original basement of this house was only a small storage room. They had renovated it with the help of magic (Aunt Callisto’s muggleborn assistant and a few hired wizards). They were able to expand it to a small wizarding space, just big enough to outfit a fitness room; which divided into two sides. First was space for workout area; consisted mostly of age appropriated exercise machines. Aunt Callisto promised to upgrade them once they were old enough. The second area was covered with blue practice mat for Floor exercise, stacks of folded tumbling mats sat on the far end of the basement. They couldn’t expand the wizarding space big enough for other gymnastic apparatus without violation set by the Ministry since the house was in the muggle neighborhood.

_Dirty Orchestra_ by _Black Violin_—Harry’s floor exercise music, blasting loudly when he stepped inside. He quickly spotted Harry, in her practice leotard, ran diagonally across the mat before executed double Arabian salto tucked. The mat let out a _thunk_ sound when she landed, chest out, hands in the air, though her legs wobbled just a bit. Harry continued with a full illusion turn before the routine dropping her on the floor. She fully immersed in the moment and had not noticed his presence. She wouldn’t be, not until her routines came to an end. Leo knew fully well she would see nothing else while doing her routines. Her mind had been trained to absolute concentration. 

Sighing, he dropped on the bench next to where Harry left her towels. He leaned back with arms crossed over his chest and wait quietly for the girl to finish, he wouldn’t have to wait long since the song was cut specifically for her floor routine which only last a little over a minute. 

His mind went back to the events happened today. After the shopping, Lord Black brought him back to Grimmauld Place once more. To work out the details on several fronts. The older wizard had wanted Leo to spend every weekend morning at Grimmauld Place, learning in-depth about the Blacks. A decision that Leo accepted with a compromise that the man let their house be cleaned and renovated. Leo wasn’t high maintenance but he refused to let their London residence stayed in a state of disrepair. Lord Black gladly concurred with him, even allowed him to purchase additional house-elves to help Kreacher with the tasks. Much to the older elf’s chagrin.

He would have to re-schedules some of his martial training and magical theory on the weekends, perhaps moving them to the evening. He would have to check with Harry who shared magical theory class, and their teacher; Mr. Hawke.

“Hey Simba, how long have you been home?” Harry’s use of his nickname brought him out of his thoughts. Leo turned to see the girl walking toward the bench.

“Hey Scarface,” He returned the greeting with the nickname of her own as well. (Funnily, Harry loved action movies, _Scarface_ was one of them.) He grabbed one of the towels and threw one at her. Harry snatched it out of the air with a flourish. “I’ve only been back for like ten minutes. Heard it’s just us today.”

“Yeah, your aunt’s still in London. Said she would be late tonight.” Wiping sweats from her face, she replied. “You look absolutely knackered. Are you sure you are okay?”

“Just tried,” Leo said with a sigh. “Aunt Callisto’s right about dealing with the Blacks would leave me exhausted afterward. Would you believe me if I said I finally met my grandmother?”

Harry paused for a moment, “I thought both of your grandmothers are dead?”

Leo snorted. “Oh, they are. But Walburga Black left an enormous portrait of herself hanging at Grimmauld Place, she screamed the house down how unworthy I am to set foot inside her precious house.”

“Yikes.” She said after taking a sip of her water. “Come on, tell me everything while I do cooldown.”

And that what he did, Leo told her of Lord Black and their conversation, about Kreacher the old house-elf and his grandmother’s portrait, about the decaying state of Number 12 Grimmauld Place and his plans to renovate it, last was his unexpected trip to visit Diagon Alley.

“I’m sorry, I know I promised that we’d go together…” Leo apologized.

Harry looked at him from where she laid on her back doing the gluteal stretch. “It’s fine. It’s obvious you can’t say no to him. I guess this way, you can show me around when it’s my turn.” She paused and switched legs. “Though, I hope you’re joking about that dinner invitation. Why ever would he want to invite me to a formal dinner?”

“’Cause, you are Hariel Potter?” Leo offered.

“I hardly think that’s the only reason.” Harry scoffed and reclined on her back, lifting one leg up to stretch the hamstring.

“For some people, I think that’s a reason enough.” Leo shook his head slightly; Harry still had no idea of the impact she truly had to a magical world, good or bad. “For Lord Black though, I think it’s also because you are the last living Potter, despite your blood status. He’s curious about you.”

“Let’s hope this invitation comes after that house is nice and clean then. From what you told me, you might want to hire Aunt Petunia to get the jobs done. Merlin knows how much she’s obsessing with cleanliness.” Harry commented offhandedly before letting out a giggle at the mental image.

Leo almost shuddered at the thought. “I don’t think it’s a wise idea to have them in the same room.”

“And there goes your _dramatic entrance_ back to the Wizarding World, or does it? From what you told me; Lord Black is his own kind of special effect.” She joked.

“Yeah, the kind that made people scramble and dive out of his way. Completed with dust particle.” Leo snorted.

“Hmm…. I am excited to visit this Diagon Alley though. From what you said it sounds _magical_!” Harry said with a smile. “Only a few months to go! In the meantime, I have spring competition to contend with! Too bad I can only practice my floor routine and some conditioning here.”

He shook his head, agreeing with her. Their time at primary school was coming to an end. Only a few more months to go. Leo just hoped the decision of accepting House of Black’s heirship wouldn’t come back at bit him in the bum later on.

He was still skeptical of Death’s warnings. So far, only one of them proved to be true. Even with a new Minister at the helm and Dumbledore’s helping, no one wanted to take on his father’s case. They would rather leave the issue alone. He still wasn’t sure about bringing Lord Black on broad. He still didn’t trust the old wizard enough to ask for his help. The man had his own agenda after all.

**: : : : : :**

Months passed by. It wasn’t long until the chilled air replaced by a warmer one. Still, the weather in Little Whinging remained on the cooler side.

On one ordinary July Morning, a postman stopped on the front-step of 4 Privet Drive for the daily delivery. As he sorted out the appropriated mails for the correct house, he did not notice a peculiar letter mixing in the stack; a thick envelope, made of yellowish parchment, there was no stamp at all. The postman just shoved the contents with the rest of mails into Number 4’s letterbox, before walking away, heading the Number 5, continued with his job.

He wasn’t anywhere near when a high-pitched screech came from inside of 4 Privet Drive, nor was he there when the commotion started soon afterward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PS :: Phew! To be honest, this chapter did not want to be written. Or more specifically, I had to rewrite some scenes in several versions before compared each one fit better. And then, the Blacks refused to cooperate! *sighs*
> 
> Not sure if I did Lord Black justice. I pictured him kind of anti-social and burnt-out from all the loss that his family suffered from the first war with Grindelwald. And then he was annoyed with his family with how they graveled at Voldemort’s feet. I think that, while he supported the idea of blood-purity, he didn't want to be anyone's follower either. When his family threw their fortunes at Voldemort’s campaign, he was too tired and too old to actually fix anything. (Or want to) He’s still prejudiced, but he’s cunning enough to see where the wind is blowing.
> 
> Next chapter we are moving to the canon timeline of book 1! Until then, leave me review/comment, tell me what you think! And stay safe everyone!


	6. Year 1 Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Dursleys VS Hogwarts Owls, round 1. FIGHT!  
Plus Harry's official entrance to the Wizarding world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer :: Same as Chapter 1.
> 
> Warning :: Fem!Harry. Crossover. Kind of AU. No Beta, we die like men. My grammar is as bad as house-elf. This fic is also cross-posted on FF.net/AO3
> 
> A/N :: Here we are! Canon timeline starting! While this story is considering an AU, things that happened in canon can also happen here. Although might not be exactly the same. You might recognize some sentences were directly quoted from the books, I also cooperated some scenes from the movies in as well. I’ve taken the liberty of creative license for the sake of worldbuilding in my story. Some details may or may not be 100% accurate to canons. 
> 
> And as always, thank you for all the comments/reviews/sub/like/fav/kudos/bookmarks! 
> 
> Starting Timeline this chapter; January 2011.

**Chapter 6 :: Year 1 Part 1  
Families and a Funeral.**

In all the whirlwinds of things, Leo found himself busier than ever before.

The plan to restoring Grimmauld Place was put into work almost immediately. Even Aunt Callisto was horrified when she heard of the state Grimmauld Place was currently in. She offered the names of a few contractors she had trusted and hired to do the work discreetly before. Lord Black had turned it down at first but relented in the end after hours of arguments with Leo. Between the two of them, only Arcturus was capable of performing magic, even with the help of their house-elves. His body was too weak to do it all by himself. Alas, the man conceded and agreed to the hired help.

But first, they would be cleaning the house before any renovating could be done. Arcturus vehemently refused to part with any valuable artifacts which his family had collected over the centuries, no matter how dark or illegal they seemed to be.

The cleaning duty fell onto the house-elves; namely Kreacher and Misty. That brought the issue of acquiring more house-elves back on the table. Arcturus had wanted to purchase a new house-elf from House-elves' service company where witches and wizards bred professional house-elves for sale. Leo didn't like the idea too much since it sounded a bit inhumane. No matter how symbiotic the relationship between house-elves and wizards truly was.

But as it turned out, they did not need to purchase more house-elves. After a talk with Misty, she told him that his father had another house-elf transferred to Leo's vault under a stasis-spell. All he had to do was picking him up from Gringotts Vault and had a wizard end the spell to revive the elf.

Apparently, this was a practice that witches and wizards favored once upon a time when they had extra house-elves. They could sell them to a service company where anyone could purchase them. They could give them away or bequeath them to someone else like Alphard did with his two house-elves. Sirius didn't need two house-elves back then since they lived in a small house with just him and Leo. Thus, his father sealed the other elf away.

So, he and Lord Black made another trip to Gringotts, and Leo came home with a house-elf named Lark. Lark was considered very young for a house-elf, that was why Sirius had chosen Misty instead of him. When Leo asked, the young elf said that he held no ill-will toward that decision, Lark knew he was still inexperienced in taking care of the bond-family. Lark would stay with Leo during the night while being on loan along with Misty during the day to help with Grimmauld Place cleanup. Leo would join them on the weekends, whenever his lessons with Lord Black allowed.

Misty assured both him and Arcturus that she would train Lark to be the best house-elf, worthy of serving House of Black. Kreacher had grumbled about how he should be the one to do it since he was the current head-elf of House of Black. But Lord Black cut him off—possibly knowing too well how the older elf behaved and not wanting the traits to pass down to the new elf. He gave Kreacher the task of doing inventory on every room, making a list of things on what each room would need. It was an enormous task since Grimmauld Place wasn't small. But the size of the assignment had placated the elder elf somewhat.

With three house-elves at the helm, Grimmauld Place was becoming cleaner and cleaner every time he visited. Leo breathed easier each time he went there. Lord Black's pallid look lingered, however. It was clear to everyone with eyes that his health was failing fast, even the older wizard himself. They both knew his time was fast approaching. But neither voiced it out, Lord Black; out of pride and Leo; out of respect for the man.

By the time the house was deemed clean enough to start restoring, Spring had arrived. The doxies-infestation and dwelling boggarts were taken care of. And Lord Black had the house-elves stored his priceless artifacts, dark arts tomes, and any questionable magical items up in the attic, along with Walburga Black's portrait.

It seemed Leo's grandmother had used a permanent sticking charm on the wall when she had her portrait hung. After she concealed it with a layer of spells, so that, nobody would be able to remove it. Unfortunately, she hadn't thought to include the famous Black's fury. By none other than Lord Black, himself.

After another shouting match between her and Arcturus, the old wizard had had enough. In the first of anger, he blasted the wall where her portrait had hung into splinters. Leo suspected the frame and canvas only survived because of an unbreakable charm protecting it. Ignoring Kreacher's dramatic outcry for his mistress, as well as the said mistress herself, Arcturus had all but tossed the portrait up in the attic. The only consolation for Kreacher was that the elf was allowed to do whatever he wanted with the portrait as long as it stayed up there in the attic.

A week into London Spring, the contractors finally came to assess Grimmauld Place's damage. Lord Black hadn't liked them too much because one of them was a muggleborn, but at least the older wizard had kept the opinions to himself. Quite an improvement, if Leo thought about it.

Usually, a house restoring/renovating for wizards was typically done with the home-owners themselves. In this case, though, Lord Black was getting too weak to expand his magic for such a task and Leo was too young to do it himself. So, the tasks fell on to the contractors they had hired, with a secrecy cause signed in the agreement.

They stripped the paints and wallpapers on both exterior and interior before the repainting began. The rusty iron-wrought railings and grimy windows were replaced and charmed to withstand the weather in years to come. The interior wall was dominated by damask wallpaper in black and silver in almost every room. Moldy curtains and draperies were replaced by new ones in various colors like dark green, navy blue, ivory cream, and deep maroon. The last one; a Gryffindor color, much to Leo's surprise that Lord Black even allowed it.

The ghastly displays of the house-elves' heads were also been moved to the dungeon. Kreacher protested at first but changed his mind after Leo had convinced him that having such a shocking display hanging in the dungeon would serve to strike fear at whoever locked up there, especially the enemies of House Black. After hearing that the old house-elf practically volunteered to move the thing himself. Arcturus looked on, with a knowing smirk on his face.

All the rooms for a formal function, such as the dining room and parlor; were redecorated with both repaired and new furniture. The drawing-room was now elegant and tasteful with the same antique sofa and living chairs, but with new velvety-gray upholstery. The wooden floor was shined, the carpets replaced. The kitchen was updated to the current time as much as they could without installing any muggle applications—all according to Misty's specification, much to Kreacher's irritation.

All of the bedrooms, including the guest bedrooms which were already magically expanded to comfortably accommodate both residences and guests; were refurnished with new bedframes and bedding sets, replacing the rotting, bug-infesting beds that were left unattended for years. With exception of the master bedroom, Sirius's and Regulus's, which were left untouched.

Lord Black said that didn't see the need to redone his room when he knew his death was imminent. Leo didn't want to touch his father's room without his input, so he left it the way it was; full of skimpy muggle models on the walls. And Kreacher had begged them to leave Regulus's room alone. Leo didn't see any harm in it, so he left the matter be. But not before extracting a promise from the old elf that he would have to take care of maintaining the room. So, no infestation was able to settle back in.

Gradually the various damages caused by years of neglect were fixed and replaced. By the time June was coming to an end, 12 Grimmauld Place was ready to host visitors again without embarrassment to the Black's name. Arcturus then decided to hold a family dinner at Grimmauld Place.

When the older wizard said a _family dinner_, what he meant consisted of just Lord Black himself, Leo, Aunt Callisto, and Lucretia Prewett. While it was true that the Black related to almost every pureblood house in the British Isle, that didn't mean Arcturus counted them as a Black.

The Weasleys were a good example of this. They related through the Blacks by Cedrella Black; daughter of Arcturus Black II. She was Leo's grandfather's second cousin, from a branch family. Until she was disowned for marrying a blood-traitor like a Weasley. One of her sons was the now current Head of House Weasley. Her action was said to be one of the biggest scandals of the decades until Andromeda eloped with a muggleborn years later.

While Arcturus had mellowed out in his prejudice, some ideas still held stronger than others.

And so, Andromeda Tonks was not invited. Neither was Narcissa Malfoy. The first, because she was still disowned and clearly had no wish to return to the family. The other had offended Arcturus by aiding her husband in slandering the Black House. To Lord Black, Narcissa was disowned from the Black in all but name, and so was her son—Draco. Aunt Callisto wasn't invited at first, but Leo was persistent until Lord Black caved to his reason and demand.

It was the first time in a century that a Black squib had stepped foot inside any Black's property after being disinherited. Even though his great-aunt had always said that she was over it. But Leo knew that somewhere in her heart the wound still had not healed. Nevertheless, she had put any pettiness aside and accepted the invitation because she knew this might be the last time, she would ever see Arcturus Black again.

As for their last guest; Lucretia Prewett, née Black, was Arcturus's youngest child. She was older than Aunt Callisto by a few years. But Leo could see the similarity in the cheekbones, nose, and eyes. She was the one who would have held the headship of the house if the Blacks weren't strictly patriarchy. Lucretia was Leo's also great-aunt since she was his grandfather—Orion's younger sister. Her husband—Ignatius Prewett, from a minor branch of Prewett line. She became a widow about five years ago when he passed away from dragon pox.

Despite the noble air around her, the older witch was surprisingly friendly and gave him words of encouragement. Even congratulated him in successfully changing her father's mind about renovating the house. She also allowed him to call her Aunt Lucretia from now on.

Both Leo and Aunt Callisto had worried about leaving Harry alone at home. But Arcturus had insisted that he wanted it to be the only family first. Leo didn't want to push it. The Dursleys weren't too happy having Harry crashing on Dudley's birthday plan. Even when Harry just snagged the 2nd place on her Level at the Regional Spring competition. They were also too afraid to say anything without pissing Aunt Callisto off. So, Harry would be spending her entire day with her relatives at London Zoo, along with Piers Polkiss and his parents. The Dursleys would drop her off at their house before heading out to a birthday dinner with the Polkiss.

Harry waved him off, telling him not to worry. And that nothing could possibly go wrong. Knowing some of the infamous Potter's luck, Leo would not be surprised if something _did_ go wrong.

The dinner went off without a hitch, despite the lingering tension. Kreacher, Misty, and Lark did their absolute best bringing out delicious foods. The conversation was at minimal. Once the meal was finished, they relocated to the now pristine and elegantly decorated drawing-room. Leo had given Misty leave to check on Harry. Since she should be back by now. Before he followed his relatives into the room. Lucretia looked around, clearly impressed with the state of cleanliness.

Arcturus then announced to them of his decision of choosing Leo as his heir. Aunt Callisto, who already knew this, only smiled and congratulated Leo again. Aunt Lucretia looked perplexed but oddly accepting of the decision.

"I am not upset with this decision. Just curious." The older witch said with a thoughtful look. "I'd thought you would have gone with that Malfoy boy, Father."

"Of course not, you silly girl." Lord Black said dismissively from where he lounged, a glass of brandy in his hand. Even though the older wizard knew full well he should not be drinking it. The man ignored critical eyes fixing his way and said. "I would rather House of Black is no more than having that ignorant brat as my Heir!"

As if knowing, the older witch just sighed at her father's behavior. Before changing the subject toward Leo's Hogwarts preparation. When Arcturus brought up about inviting Harry again, Aunt Lucretia was surprised to know that the famous Girl Who Lived was his friend.

"Now that you mentioned it, she was his only friend." Aunt Callisto teased. Leo scoffed but otherwise kept quiet. He hadn't wanted the others to know about how they were attending a muggle school, even though he knew Lord Black had some idea about it. No need to shout it out.

"Don't worry, dear. I'm sure you'll meet more people at Hogwarts. It's only a few months away." The older witch assured him kindly. Leo just nodded, not knowing what to say.

"Never mind that, I'll get to the point about why we are all here." Lord Black spoke after another sip of his drink. "Everyone here knows that I don't have much time left…."

"Father—"

"Especially you, daughter. You are a healer, retired or not, one look at me and you already knew how long I have left. Don't placate me with false courtesy. It's unbecoming of a Black. And you, boy," Arcturus turned his sharp gaze to Leo. "Don't think I know who it is you intended to appoint as your proxy until you are old enough to claim the headship of this house."

Leo wasn't surprised at the old man's words, he'd expected, actually. "Then why would you bring it up?"

"Because it's both dumb and short sight, boy." The older wizard sneered. "You want a squib as a proxy for House of Black! Do you want the whole of Britain laughing at us?!"

"Oh, Leo…" Aunt Callisto gasped and looked at him disapprovingly.

"You think by doing that will make us look 'lighter' somehow? Don't be ridiculous! All it does is making us a laughing stock!"

"I thought the Blacks were never ones to care about the public's opinions." Leo scowled.

"We don't, boy. It's a matter of technicality and practicality. By wizarding laws, a house proxy or representative cannot be a muggle or a squib. While your hypothesis says that squib still has magic. They still do not possess enough to hold the weight of the role magically. This is not about blood-purity or prejudice, it's just the way magic works."

"It is the same way how the muggles cannot drink full dosage of a magical potion; they do not have innate magic as we do. While it helps them to a certain degree, most potions usually bring more harm than good to them." Aunt Lucretia added, her information was reliable since she was once a renounced healer at St. Mungo.

"Did someone ever try to—"

"Yes. And they died right there, after signing the damn papers, burnt from inside out. The goblins made the right fit about it. They hate cleaning up after a wizard, and most of all, they hate wasting their time."

He paled at their words; he could have put aunt Callisto in such a dangerous situation like that? Leo composed himself from showing it quickly, masking it by deepened his scowl. "But I've studied those inheritance laws, I don't remember seeing anything like that."

"And you wouldn't. It's an old law, so old that it was only being taught within old-blood families. Besides, no one would have put a muggle or a squib up as a representative." Aunt Lucretia offered gently, with a tilt of her head. "But I believe I know where this is going. I had a wonder why my presence was requested tonight. You want me to be his proxy, don't you, Father?" Surprisingly, her tone was without resentment.

"That's correct." Lord Black admitted readily. "A proxy does not have to be male, unlike the headship of our house. And you are one with the closest blood-relation to him. You are, after all, his paternal grandaunt. You are also a pureblood, born, bred, and married one. House Prewett might not be what they once were. But no one could contest your claim. This way, that arrogant girl can't bring up the legitimacy. Not that she won't try."

"Knowing Narcissa since she was born, I do not doubt in my mind that she will. And if she doesn't do it directly, then it's her husband." Lucretia shook her head sadly before looking at Leo again. "Well, I do not mind, Leonis. You won't have full control of the house until you are of age. The Black seat in Wizengamot is currently empty until you gain the headship. No one can use our vote unless a proxy is appointed by you, which I will be voting at monthly assembly, or any legislation session, in your stead. Besides that, most of what I will be doing was acting as your representative in a legal matter, looking over the interests of our house business, corresponding with family's allies—or anyone you considering as such.

"As you no doubt had learned, being an heir or even the Head of the house, does not grant you much privilege as we once have centuries ago. You might notice that aside from Lord and Lady, we do not have any obvious ranks. The social classes changed with time, no one care much if we were nobles or commoners these days. The only thing they care about is blood-status. And that only for certain circles. We are all under the same laws nowadays."

"Unless, the gold in your vaults stacks higher than others," Leo added bitterly.

"That is true for all humans, Leonis. Both wizards and muggles alike." Even Aunt Callisto piped in. "But it is a smart move. Lucretia is a Black Scion by birth. She knows the wizarding society inside out, she can give you good advice. She has connections that I, as a squib, do not have."

"Exactly. Despite that disappointment, she called marriage." Lord Black added with a sneer.

Aunt Lucretia lifted her chin, ignoring her father. "Yes, I might not be the socialite I once was decades ago. It doesn't mean I don't know the essentials now. And as far as anyone concerned, I've been _neutral_ since before the war. And I've also lost people dear to me from both sides."

Leo contemplated all the new information he had just been bombarded with, letting it all sung in. If what Arcturus said was true regarding the representative appointment, then it's not just about prejudice talking. And picking Aunt Lucretia as his proxy did have benefits.

If he wanted House of Black to move in a new, less prejudiced direction but still able to uphold magical traditions. He would need someone like Aunt Lucretia. Someone from an old, respectable, pureblood family but was neutral enough during the war. And wasn't the Dark Lord's supporter. Aunt Lucretia, despite coming from one of the most extreme blood-purist families, married a light family—the Prewett. She was a healer at St. Mungo; there was no profession more neutral than that.

It was a sound idea, all things considered. No matter what he thought of Arcturus Black. Leo had to admit that the old man was crafty. The old wizard knew there was no way Leo could let an opportunity like this go, not if he was smart enough.

Hmm…perhaps, this was a test.

Leo let out a sigh, "I will take it into consideration." He _needed_ to do some research before fully believe that certain law before jumping right in.

"I wouldn't expect anything less." Lord Black smirked knowingly, lifting the glass to his lips again. Aunt Callisto looked relieved for some reason. But Aunt Lucretia still spotted a perplexed look on her face.

That was when he heard a familiar pop before Misty appeared right by him. When he noticed her large eyes brimming with tears, Leo knew something was wrong. He quickly stood up and excused himself from the room. Everyone watched him go with knowing eyes, but said nothing, letting him leave the room with his house-elf.

Once the door was closed, Leo turned to Misty. "What happened, Misty?"

Misty looked up from the floor, tears falling from her large eyes. "The….it's the mean muggles, Master Leo! They locked up Miz Harry Potter in the little cupboard again!"

"What?!"

"Misty not knowing why!" the elf squeaked. "Misty did as the young master said and check Miz Harry, but she is not at Master's home!"

Gears turning in his head, "You checked her room at Privet Drive, and she wasn't there either?"

"No, young master." Misty shook her head quickly.

"And that's when you check the cupboard…" Misty frantically nodded this time. Leo rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Do you know what happened? How's Harry? Is she hurt?"

"No. Miz Harry is not hurt." The elf shook her head again and picked at her uniform hem; eyes lowered to the floor again. "Misty not know why the mean muggles did it. They were gone with Misty got there. And Miz Harry won't tell Misty. Miz Harry was hungry, so Misty brought her a meal. She thanked Misty and asked Misty to let Master Leo knows where she is."

Leo sighed with a little bit of relief, that…did not sound so bad. At least she wasn't hurt. Whatever had happened at the zoo had angered Harry's relatives enough they threw her in the damn cupboard again. They hadn't done that for years. Not since Harry had spent most of her time outside 4 Privet Drive.

Tomorrow was Sunday, Harry would be having a full day of practice at her club. And since the Summer Meet was coming up soon, there was no way her coach would let her skip the practice. Miss Tanaka wasn't above breaking down the Dursleys' door if they had kept locking Harry inside.

All he had to do was to call and inform of the possibility to the petite woman. She had been Harry's coach long enough to know the habits of the Dursleys by now.

Nevertheless…..

"Misty," The house-elf looked up at him. "Please take me to her."

**: : : : : :  
  
**

Today went down as one of the most disastrous in her almost eleven-years-old life. Since it was her rest-day she wasn't allowed to practice. Harry should have just stayed at Leo's house and played video games instead of went out to the zoo with her relatives and the Polkiss.

It was Dudley's birthday. Their plan was a trip to London Zoo, before dining out at one of the more upscale restaurants in Little Whinging. Piers Polkiss; Dudley's best friend (lackey) and his family were invited. Harry was not.

Her aunt and uncle argued for half an hour after Madam Callisto called and told them they would be at a family gathering in London. And was unable to take Harry with them today. Although she insisted that Harry was welcome to stay at her house. Aunt Petunia quickly refused. Too afraid that Harry would wreck a house of Uncle Vernon's boss. Her aunt hung up before Callisto could say anything else. Usually, the Blacks would say nothing at all if they were not going to be home because Harry had her own copy of the house key. She was welcome to come and go as she pleased. But she had been staying at 4 Privet Drive for the last few days to fill the monthly quota of charging the ward.

After discarding the possibility of sending Harry to Mrs. Figg—They couldn't since the older woman was currently suffering a broken leg. Neither could they send her to Aunt Petunia's friend—Joycelyn something, Harry barely recalled. They outright refused to leave her alone at Privet Drive, citing that Harry would leave the house in ruins if she was left all by herself.

However tempting the idea was, to blow it all up, Harry still needed this house. Specifically, the protection wards surrounding it. In the end, they ended up bringing her along with them, much to Dudley's protest. Harry rolled her eyes at his whining.

The whole trip was as exciting as watching paint dry. She ignored the japing from both Dudley and his rat-faced friend; Piers. The zoo was itself mostly not too bad, she loved all the big cats lounging in the man-made habitats, especially the lions. Called her biased, but lions were House Gryffindor's emblem, the house where her parents belonged to. And they also reminded her of Leo. In name only though. Leo would never lounge lazily all day and left the girls doing all the work as typical male lions would. She chuckled at the mental image. Harry wondered if he would be as bored as her now dealing with his crazy family. At least there would be some exciting, right?

Everything went on in a drab fashion until they reached the house of reptiles.

Harry was so bored she started a one-sided conversation with a boa constrictor about being gawking at by annoying people. As Harry lamented to the snake how similar she would be feeling when she returned to her other world, she could have sworn the snake was nodding back. But she chalked it up to her boredom.

It was the moment she was asking the snake about where it came from when Piers shouted excitedly for her cousin. After a minute of waddling, he sneered and shoved her out of the way by punching her in the ribs, she sworn she bounced off the damn floor with how much forced he used. It had been so long since she was hit by Dudley. The combination of being irritated and a flash of anger shot through her.

What came next no one saw how it happened—one second Dudley and Piers were leaning right on the glass, the next, Piers leaped back yowling in horror.

Harry blinked and sat up from where she fell, realizing that the glass panel had completely vanished. As the boa constrictor slithering out from its confinement, it swiftly slid past her, she swore again that it _thanked_ her. Shocked, she replied with a 'You're welcome'.

Among the screaming was her aunt when she rushed through the screaming crowds to where they were. Only to find out her beloved Diddykins had fallen over into the now empty snake display. Both of them screaming and banging on the returned glass, while Piers went to fetched Uncle Vernon and his parents, the keeper of reptiles following in toll.

"But how?" the keeper mused as he went after the escaping reptile, leaving them with the zoo director who came a minute later.

"The glass was gone, for like a second!" Piers fibbed hysterically after the zoo staff helped Dudley out of the glass display. The rat-faced boy continued to embellish his tale to the adults, saying the snake had tried to bite off their legs before slithered away. But worst of all, the boy insisted Harry was talking to the snake just before it all happened. Her uncle's beady eyes squinted dangerously at her. Harry refused to look guilty, lifted her chin stubbornly but offered nothing.

Harry had an idea what it was; that was her accidental magic reacting to the anger. Although, she was sure the snake-talking-thing was only in her imagination. And from both Uncle Vernon's twitchy eyes and Aunt Petunia's thinned lips, they both knew it was her, too.

Uncle Vernon waited until it was time for dinner, and the Polkiss left to meet up at the restaurant before starting on Harry. His meaty hand gripped Harry's arm, dragging her to the familiar cupboard, another pointing finger at her. His face was almost purple as he managed to say, "I knew it was you-how dare you show your freakish nature publicly!"

Still riding on an adrenalin high, she was feeling extra vicious. Harry laughed in his face. "They deserved it! Especially your son."

"_You freak!_" Uncle Vernon screamed; his face went from purple to red to purple again. But the anger had clouded his mind enough, he couldn't find any more words to speak. Instead, he yanked open the cupboard and shoved Harry inside, before slammed it shut, locking it.

The Dursleys left the house soon afterward, so they could make it to their reservation. Leaving Harry inside the cupboard without a meal as punishment. It had been a while since she had to fight hunger. Leo's house-elf; Misty had always ensured she was fed even when the Dursleys had pretended to forget to feed her. And there she was, hours later still lying in the cot she had slept on when she was younger. Bruises, fresh on her arm and ribs. (where Dudley had punched her earlier.) She had outgrown it now, so her legs were hanging awkwardly off the edge.

She hunkered down for the night, resigning to the night without dinner when she heard a familiar pop.

Misty appeared, hysterically, asking if she was alright. After gotten over the startle, Harry quickly assured the elf that she was fine, just hungry. The elf popped away before came back in less than a minute with foods enough to feed an army. Misty stayed until she finished her meal. Harry thanked the teary-eyed elf. Misty left with the empty dishes, leaving Harry by herself once more.

It had been a while since accidental magic happened to her. Meditation had helped a lot sorting out her frustration. But the stress of the Summer competition and the anxiety stemmed from waiting for Hogwarts acceptant letter, seemed to be getting to her.

Imagining a blank room within her mind, Harry closed her eyes and took a deep brea—

A popping sound followed by a loud thud banged against the wall, Harry snapped open her eyes and sat up. Her greens met with the familiar pair of greys.

"What the heck! Leo?!"

"Ow…" The boy announced lamely, rubbing the back of his head where he banged against the cupboard wall upon arrival.

"Misty is so sorry, Young Master!" The elf gasped in horror.

"I'm…. fine, Misty. It's not your fault this thing is narrower than I thought." Leo shifted his long legs and hunched lower so his head wouldn't knock into the wood again. "Although…. maybe you can come back later for me. I'll call you once I'm done. Please let Lord Black know I will be back shortly."

"Right away, master!" With that the elf popped away, leaving Leo alone with Harry inside her infamous cupboard.

Harry felt her face burn hot with embarrassment. It was one thing Leo knew about her cupboard but seeing it with his own eyes…. She was thankful for the first time the Dursley hadn't changed the light bulb in here ever since she had moved upstairs. So, the only source of light came from the hallway that slipped through the wood panels on the door.

"What are you doing here?!" She whispered and moved to make room for her friend.

"Checking in on you. Misty couldn't tell me much, just that they locked you in here again." Leo shifted into a more comfortable position, folding his legs to his chest, his eyes searching her up and down as if looking for something before spotted something on her arm. He narrowed his eyes, "What happened?"

Harry's eyes followed him to that same spot, realizing he could see the hand-printed bruise easily now that she took her track jacket off. She winced. Her uncle hadn't been known for gentleness, but he'd never dared to leave bruises on her before. Only Dudley that done it without care.

"It's nothing…." She tried to say, but the boy's lifted-eyebrow told her that he hadn't believed in her assurance at all. She sighed. "It's just another accidental magic."

His gaze sharped at that. "_What happened?_"

Harry winced internally again, she really hated it when he used that tone.

Consciously, she rubbed at her ribs. "Dudley shoved at me, so he could see a snake move." She left the detail that her cousin had actually punched her out. "I hit the ground pretty hard. And I guessed my magic just reacted…. You know how it is when I'm upset…the next thing you know, the glass they were leaning on, vanished. Dudley fell inside the snake cage, while the snake got out. It didn't even hurt anyone, just slithered away. And then the glass appeared again, as if it never vanished in the first place, locking Dudley inside."

"I see." Leo simply said; eyes flicked from her arm to her torso.

"Uncle Vernon was furious. Aunt Petunia was terrified. But they couldn't say anything in front of the Polkiss." Harry shrugged. "Once they dropped me off, Uncle Vernon shoved me in here with no dinner. And… um…"

"What is it?"

She forced herself not to smirk. "I might have told him that Dudley deserved it. It was kind of cathartic." She added when the boy accusingly stared at her. "What? He did! And the cage was empty. The snake didn't even touch them."

"Harry, you need to be careful. We don't need—"

"Yes, yes. I know that we don't need unwanted attention from the wrong people." She huffed, "I do know. I didn't even mean to do it. It's just happened."

Leo finally relented and sighed. He rubbed his temple tiredly. "Do you need to see a doctor?"

Harry shook her head. "Nah. Just some of that bruise salve, and I will be back to practice normally tomorrow."

"I will have Misty bring it later then." Leo looked at her critically again. "Are you sure you are okay?"

"I will be fine," Harry assured him, more firmly this time. It wasn't like this was the first time Dudley had hurt her. He just hadn't done it in a while. Wanting to shift the topic from herself, she returned the critical gaze back to him. "What about you? How is _meeting the family_ going?"

"You make it sound like my family is the mobs."

"You mean they aren't?"

"Ha-Ha. I think you've watched too much mafia movies." The boy rolled his eyes. "Lord Black called it _family dinner_. But it's only another person who was invited besides the old man, Aunt Callisto, and myself. Aunt Lucretia is my grandfather's younger sister. So, she's actually my great-aunt or grandaunt..."

It's never failed to amazed Harry how closely related within the old pureblood families were. In fact, Harry and Leo were actually related, albeit very distantly. The Blacks were one of the more extreme families. From what she had learned from lessons; they'd rather married their own cousins just to keep the blood _pure_. At least, they were as bad as the Gaunts. Marrying your own siblings? _Yikes._

"She's that not bad actually. A retired healer," The boy added, "she also married a Prewett."

A brow lifted at his words, "Really? And she hasn't been disowned for that?"

"No. I was surprised when I heard it too. But after seeing their interactions, I think Lord Black does love his daughter. Even if he doesn't allow himself to show it. And Aunt Lucretia either knows this or doesn't care enough. I still can't tell." He paused and checked his wrist-watch. "I should be getting back soon. Do you need me to spring you out tomorrow?"

"Hmm…if it's not you, then Ms. Yu will. You know how she is."

"Miss Tanaka is surprisingly terrifying, for her size." Leo gave a visible shuddered.

"Is it wrong that I kind of want to unleash her on to the Dursleys?"

Leo laughed. "You are not the only one."

**: : : : : :  
  
**

The zoo incident was put in the back-shelf soon afterward. The Dursleys would rather eat their own feet than admitted that anything 'abnormal' ever happened at all. They had done it over the years every time Harry had her strange incidents. Aside from the punishment by locking her up without dinner, they would never reference the previous incidents unless necessary.

The falling out proved whimsical at best. Now that Harry knew they could not kick her out, even if they wanted to. Dumbledore would not let them. And as long as she didn't blatantly do underage magic; any flashy magic she did before receiving a wand, would only count as Accidental Magic. According to the laws anyway. She technically hadn't broken any statue of secrecy.

Their words were also proven true when Ms. Yu stormed 4 Privet Drive after Harry didn't show up on time at the club. Leo also _accidentally_ happened to be passing by Privet Drive at the same time. Harry swore the boy was eating popcorn when the shouting match began between Uncle Vernon and her petite coach. It was only stopped when Madam Callisto's car pulled up by their driveway.

Uncle Vernon could do nothing but let her go. Harry didn't go back to Privet Drive until three weeks later when the ward charging was required again. And by then, everyone; including her aunt and uncle, pretended nothing _magically_ happened at the zoo at all, just as she had expected.

Dudley however, was showered with a new set of computers. He took every chance to rub it in her face. If Harry had nothing going on in her life, she might have felt jealous. But she'd seen a much better, more advanced set of computers that Leo built for himself. And to be honest, she wasn't too interested in it. Harry was always busy checking out the runes sequences surrounding the area than the tech itself, which worked to null the magic enough that it wouldn't explode when Leo and Harry used it.

As June finally came to a close. The last summer of primary school came rolling in. The beginning of July was a whirlwind of activities. Both Harry and Leo took SATs and passed with flying colors, the same could not be said for Dudley, however. Not that her cousin ever cared much. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia pretended he got full scores on all subjects and bought even more junks for Dudley.

Aside from their muggle school, Leo became busier getting acquainted with his newly appointed proxy and House of Black's business. Their pre-Hogwarts education came to an end at the start of July when Mr. Hawke found employment with House of Black, working as a liaison between the house and various contractors on restoring and securing other remaining Black's properties.

Harry competed at Summer Competition and took home a silver medal for their club. Many scouts approached her for the opportunities at their schools. She took all their cards but politely declined them with written letters at later dates. Telling them that she already had somewhere to go. Ms. Yu was disappointed that Harry wouldn't tell her where she would be going. Harry couldn't even tell her the front name of Hogwarts yet, not until her letter arrived. No matter even if Professor Dumbledore had assured her that her name was already in the Book of Admittance since she was born.

No letter, no guarantee.

The Dursleys knew nothing about the scouts, of course. Harry had no doubt they would have told them to shove off, either way.

July went on, and still, there was no letter. Harry's mood plummeted further and further each day. Especially when Dudley had been accepted at Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings, where Piers Polkiss would join him. Her aunt had informed her that she would be going to Stonewall High, the local public school. Harry hadn't contradicted her. She couldn't, not yet.

"From several people I'd asked, they usually send the acceptant letters out in July for most children." Leo had reassured her. "We've known you have magic. The Headmaster had said so. So, stop worrying about not getting the letter, Harry."

Even so, she couldn't help but feel something terrible was about to happen. There was a foreboding feeling in the air. Harry had thought it was just her nerves talking, those dreadful feelings still grew bigger each day.

They had forgone the summer camp this year in favor of waiting on Harry's letter. But the acceptant letter was still nowhere in sight. In the second week of July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London for his Smeltings uniform, leaving Harry at the Blacks'. Leo had tried to keep her distracted with a busy schedule; gymnastics still took most of her time. But this would be the last year before she'd be away for school.

Harry finally had a sit down with Ms. Yu about how or if she wanted to continue with her gymnastics.

And the first time in months; her mind finally found the distraction it needed.

"So, the boarding school you will be attending has no gymnastics program at all?" Ms. Yu asked dubiously as they sat in her office, together with Leo and Madam Callisto.

Ms. Yu was, at first, confused when the Dursleys had informed the coaches that Harry would be attending Stonewall High. They shared a look between themselves but said nothing contradicting the Dursleys. Harry had asked them not to. Afterward, Harry had to explain to them that she would be joining Leo at an exclusive boarding school where their parents were alumni. Because of her trust fund, Harry didn't want the Dursleys to know she had money that they could exploit. All her coaches were understanding since they had dealt with her relatives for years.

While Harry could tell the petite woman was truly happy for her, she was also disappointed by their inevitable parting.

"From what I've heard, they're favoring the more…. traditional sports." Harry lied with a grim face. While Quidditch sounded exciting, it was still the only sport Hogwarts had to offer.

"I've asked my grandaunt who was an alumnus, she said that while the school does not offer the program, they still provide the training hall we can use." Leo offered his thoughts. "You'll need special permission from Head of the House though."

"That doesn't sound so bad. You can still compete for the Regional here, as long as you're still a member of our club. And if you placed high enough, you can still compete at Spring Nationals." Ms. Yu said thoughtfully. "The problem would be that you'll be without a coach or spotter, and it's not something you should be risking yourself doing."

Harry's mind was in turmoil. While she was excited about a magic school, she still loved gymnastics with all her heart. It was the one connection she shared with her mother. And the first thing she was good at. She didn't want to give it up. But she knew training and competing without a spotter was a risk she should not take.

Leo seemed to sense her growing anxiety, because he reached out his hand and squeezed hers for a brief moment, bringing her out of her head. "I'm sure we can hire someone as your personal coach, right, Aunt Callisto?" From the magical world, was left unsaid.

"Maybe not from Britain. But Europe is a big place, dear Hariel. I'm sure we can find someone if you really want to continue." Madam Callisto said firmly. "We can talk about it later, alright?"

"I'm so sorry, Harry. If I don't have a full-time job here, I would have offered." Ms. Yu gave her a sad smile. As disappointed as Harry was, she understood; she wasn't the only one that Ms. Yu has been coaching after all. And while Harry was grateful for Madam Callisto's offer of help, she still didn't want to take advantage of the older woman's kindness. Perhaps, once she had access to her gold, she would be able to pay for a new coach herself. Or she could take a year off, some gymnasts didn't compete every year. Some picked and chose to suit their availabilities.

Perhaps, she could do the same. Take a break and get to know her magical heritage, get more acquainted with Quidditch—the wizarding sport. From her godfather's diary, James Potter played for Gryffindor House; first as a seeker then a chaser. He was a former Gryffindors team Captain. It could be another connection she could have with her parents, this time it would be for her father.

But until her Hogwarts letter arrived, she could nothing but wait.

**: : : : : :  
  
**

The third week of July arrived, with it a bad tiding. Lord Black's health had taken a turn for the worse and was now bedridden.

Lucretia Prewett had temporarily moved back to Grimmauld Place to take care of her ailing father. Leo also spent most of his time by the man's bedside. Madam Callisto, however, insisted that she kept herself out of the Black resident as she had been doing. While the old wizard didn't outright shame her for being a squib anymore, he still twitchy every time Leo brought her up. A family dinner was as much as the older wizard could tolerate.

Harry finally had a chance to meet the man. Lord Black had asked for her. She had been surprised since she was only distantly related to the Blacks. The wonder of the renovated Grimmauld Place was marred by the sight of the elderly Black patriarch. As Lord Black lying in bed, Harry could see the resemblance to Leo, even on his aged facial features. The same bone structure and hair texture. Although his grey eyes had more silver than Leo's. Even when looked old and frail, Harry couldn't deny the commanding air radiating off him as he motioned her to come closer after the greeting.

"Hm, you do look like that father of yours, but those eyes, hmm…. I wonder," The older man rasped; his pale eyes fixed on to her. Harry forced herself not to squirm under scrutiny. It was as if the man was trying to appraise her worth with his eyes. It went on until Leo cleared his throat loudly. Lord Black clicked his tongue in annoyance in return, but he also said, "I guess, she will do. Now, leave me to my sleep."

Confused, Harry whispered as Leo ushered her out of the master bedroom, Madam Lucretia slipped back in the check on her father. "What did he even mean 'She will do'? Do what?"

Leo shrugged nonchalantly, "I have no idea. Honest."

And that was it. Harry had not seen Lord Black again during her two-days-and-one-night visit.

However, she met Lucretia Prewett who was very kind to her. One look at the older witch and Harry could tell that she was every inch a lady. She complimented Harry's emerald-green dress that Madam Callisto's PA had mailed order from Twilfitt and Tatting's, especially for the occasion. She even promised to teach her some beauty spells that would help with braiding hair into several different hairstyles.

The old house-elf—Kreacher, however, kept muttering about her half-blood status, even when they were in the same room. Leo had told her to ignore him since the old elf was a little barmy.

All in all, her stay at Grimmauld Place was quite bizarre. Harry did not complain, she took it as following a dying man's whims, as well as a distraction while waiting for her letter.

Two days after the trip to Grimmauld Place, Harry went back to stay at 4 Private Drive once again while Leo stayed back in London. There was a horrible smell in the kitchen when Harry went in for breakfast. It seemed to be coming out of a large metal tub in the sink. Curious, she went to have a look. Inside, some kind of dirty rags submerged under the gray water.

"What's this?" She took a chance and asked Aunt Petunia. Her aunt's pale eyes glinted brightly.

"Your new school uniform," She said, with gleeful satisfaction.

"Oh," Harry mused, looking back at the tub again. "I didn't realize it had to be so wet."

"Don't be stupid," snapped Aunt Petunia. "I'm dyeing some of my old things gray for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished. Now, could you please watch the bacon? I'm going to go wake up my little Diddykins."

Harry forced herself not to retort about going to Stonewall High. In no mood to contracting his _lovely_ aunt, she muttered. "Yes, Aunt Petunia."

At least she enjoyed cooking. It was one of the tasks Aunt Petunia had dumped upon her since she was young; one of the chores she like more than others. She didn't have to do any of it when she stayed with the Blacks. She only had to keep the room tidy and clean. Misty had barely tolerated Harry's presence in her kitchen, but the elf mellowed out when Harry asked her for the cooking tips. Citing that it would appease her muggle relatives, and they would leave her alone if the food tasted good.

Harry had just finished cooking the bacon when a shrieking scream came from the hallway.

"Vernon! Get down here!" Her aunt was bellowing so loudly. Harry quickly pulled the pan off the hob. She darted toward the front of the house, to check if something was wrong.

There, her aunt stood ramrod straight, her face several shades paler than normal, her eyes widened and her thin mouth trembled. In her shaking hand was a thick yellowish envelope, she spied a purple wax seal on the back of it.

Harry's heart leaped as she stared at his aunt's hand. Could it be…?

"Is that mine?" She heard herself say, unconsciously stepping closer.

"No!" Her aunt snapped, she looked absolutely furious. But Harry didn't care.

"Give me my letter then," Harry said, held out her hand. Her eyes glinting dangerously.

"Mind you own busi—AHHH!"

Her aunt didn't get a chance to finish when the letter flew out of her hand, and into Harry's. Aunt Petunia shrieked incoherently in shock and stumbled backward. Harry ignored her in favor of the precious parcel in her hands.

It was just like how she remembered from when Leo got his. The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, the address was written in emerald-green ink, there was no stamp. Her hand shook as she read.

_Ms H. Potter_  
_The Smallest Bedroom_  
_4 Privet Drive_  
_Little Whinging_  
_Surrey_

_Finally! This must be it!_ She thought. Quickly, she turned it over. On the back of it, was a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter _H_.

She was about to break open the seal when Uncle Vernon came barreling down the stairs.

"What is this noise about?—is that—" Her uncle beady black eyes caught the envelope in Harry's hand, his face turned several colors at once before he jerked it sharply out of Harry's hand.

"That's mine!" Harry growled, trying to snatch it back only to be pushed away by her uncle's meaty hand. She stumbled backward. Sure, she was no longer a scrawny kid who was the shortest in class but as she filled out from doing gymnastics, her uncle was still eight sizes bigger than her.

Harry watched from the floor where she had fallen down as Uncle Vernon tore the letter opened, one look at it his face turned just as pale as Aunt Petunia stood up, her legs trembling, the other posts left scattered on the floor.

"They…they know where she sleeps…they know-" Her aunt whispered. "You don't think they're watching the house?"

"Watching—spying—might be following us," Uncle Vernon muttered widely.

Having had enough, Harry sprang back to her feet. "I want it back!"

Either of them heard what he had said. They kept talking among themselves.

"What do we do, Vernon? Should we write them back and tell them-" said Aunt Petunia, completely ignored her.

"No," Uncle Vernon slashed his hand in the air. "No, we'll ignore it. We'll do nothing-"

"I said I want my letter back!" Harry demanded hotly.

Both his aunt and uncle swung their faces to her, and Harry could see it so clearly in their eyes—fear. They were scared, very scared.

"Get back in your cupboard, girl!" Uncle Vernon commanded.

Harry shook her head and stood firmly. "No. I'm not going anywhere until I get my letter! Besides, it's not my cupboard anymore!"

"I don't care! Get back in there!" His uncle shouted, spit flying everywhere.

"I WANT MY LETTER!" Furious, Harry bellowed back.

The next thing she knew, every picture frame hanging on the wall exploded. Uncle Vernon yelped and Aunt Petunia shrieked. Harry, no longer care about the damage, lunged forward for the letter in her uncle's hand through the flying debris. Only for her to be grabbed by the scruff of her neck. Quickly, Uncle Vernon dragged her down the hallway, opened the cupboard door, and shoved Harry roughly inside. He slammed it shut behind her and the locked clicking in place.

Enraged, she continued banging on the door. "GIVE ME BACK MY LETTER!"

"SHUT UP!" His uncle shouted. Sound of something else shattered again, His aunt screamed echoed through the hall.

Harry had no idea how long she kept on banging at the cupboard door. She roared until her throat became raw, her hands bruised from the continuous banging. When exhaustion took over her body, she collapsed on the thin, old cot that used to be her bed. It smelled just as musty last month.

She was back in the damn cupboard again, and it didn't even last two months. But this time she had her letter. Even without reading what was inside, she knew it was HERS. Her Hogwarts letter!

Harry listened as her relative continued to shout loudly about the mess which Harry's magic had left in their hallway. She laughed internally. Her vindictive side was satiated for the moment. Harry knew that her aunt and uncle would not leave this matter be. But She did want to know how far they would go to prevent her from going to Hogwarts. That meant playing by their rules, just for now.

And so, she called for Misty.

The she-elf was frantic with worry again when she saw where Harry had called her from. But Harry had assured the elf that there was nothing to worry about. She then asked Misty not to inform Leo about the situation yet; to tell him that she was alright if he had asked. But from what she had seen, the boy wouldn't have time to think much about her, with Lord Black on death's bed. Harry also asked if the elf would be so kind as to bring her meals during her stay in the cupboard. Misty wasn't happy but she agreed, for now.

And so, her short confinement started. Each morning, Aunt petunia would shove a plate of food and a piece of bread inside so fast before slammed the door shut and locked it. That would be her food for the day, or it was supposed to until Misty arrived with a daily basket of foods. The she-elf would look at the plate that Aunt Petunia with distaste before vanished the contents, leaving nothing on the plate, before popping away. The elf would come back later each night to collect the basket and freshening the cupboard. The process would repeat the next day.

Outside the cupboard, every day Harry would hear her relatives screamed in the morning as the posts were delivered. Aunt Petunia yelled for Uncle Vernon to come to deal with them. It didn't stop even after her uncle had nailed their letterbox shut or yelling for the postman to stop coming to their house. It seemed Hogwarts was relentless in their effort for Harry to get her letter. Something she gleefully admitted, made her quite happy despite currently being locked up.

Conveniently her cupboard was also close enough to the front door, for her to easily eavesdrop on her crazed relatives.

"At least a dozen of them, Vernon!" He heard Aunt Petunia screamed a few days later through the door. "Those owls wouldn't stop!"

"Only a few more days, Pet." Uncle Vernon assured her. "Now, give them to me, so I can burn them all."

Harry sneered at that. Her relatives were fighting a losing battle here. Their '_out of sight, out of mind_' tactic didn't seem to be working. There was no way to stop the posts from coming.

If worse came to worst, maybe Professor Dumbledore himself would deliver a letter to her himself. Harry laughed out loud at the image of the Dursleys hosting the eccentric wizards; his bright-colored robe crashing with a drab-colored living room of Privet Drive. Something she would pay to see.

**: : : : : :**

Days later, when her uncle had finally unlocked the door to her cupboard and ordered her to the kitchen. She took a quick glance at the front door; the post slot was still boarded-up tight. The regular posts were now stuffed under the door. Harry knew that her letters still arrived for her if any of the daily screamings was any indication. Now they arrived by owl posts, from what she could hear from her aunt. Sniffing herself, Harry grimaced. Her relative had only let her out long enough to do business in the toilet downstairs before shoving her back in. She was starting to smell. Actually, she would already be, if not for Misty magically did a house-elf's refreshing spell on her.

She needed a shower very badly. Harry thought as she headed toward the kitchen.

Aunt Petunia was already there, she piled some more bacon on Dudley plate. Her cousin kept on eating, oblivious to the tension as usual. Her green eyes spied the flutter of wings from the kitchen window. Harry's eyes widened at the sight of numerous owls in the back garden. She took a quick glance back at her relatives, but none of them seemed to notice the army of birds perching outside. Harry forced down a smirk before her eyes darted toward the calendar on the refrigerator, telling her it was already 30 July.

Tomorrow would be her birthday. She clenched his teeth. Harry glared at her uncle as she sat down in her seat.

"No post on Sundays," Uncle Vernon announced giddily as he spread marmalade on his newspapers, "No owls, no damn letters today—"

Something came whizzing out down the kitchen chimney as he spoke and smacked him the back of his head. The next moment, thirty or forty letters came pelting out of the fireplace like bullets. Her aunt shrieked, then sputtered as some of them slammed into her face. Dudley ducked under the table with his plate as he continued to shove food into his mouth. Uncle Vernon staggered from the impact as more letters shot out at him. Harry took a chance. She jumped on her feet and leaped in the air, trying to catch one—

"Out! OUT!"

Uncle Vernon seized her around the waist and threw her in the hall. When Aunt Petunia and Dudley finally had run out with their arms over their faces. Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. They could hear the letters still streaming into the room, bouncing off the walls and floor.

"That does it," Her uncle spun around as fast as his round body could, his face went from pink to orange to red. "I want you all back there in five minutes ready to leave. We're going away. Just pack some clothes. No arguments!"

He looked so dangerous that Harry hadn't dared argue. Uncle Vernon had shoved her into her bedroom, Harry went to pack as she was told. Several of Dudley's old t-shirts, tracksuits, underwear, some socks, and a jacket. A brush and a bundle of hair ties were also tucked in the outer pouch. Harry also shoved a copy of _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_ which Leo had given her years ago, inside her rucksack. She also pulled at the loose floorboard, taking a bundle of British banknotes she had collected from her winning over the years, tucked it inside the sock she packed. Just in case. If years of learning from Leo taught her anything, it was to always be prepared.

Harry listened by the door to make sure her relatives were still busy packing before whispered for Leo's house-elf.

Misty popped into existent; eyes wide at Harry's packed bag. Harry had stopped her with a finger to her lips.

"They are taking me away," said Harry, hurriedly. "I don't know where my uncle is taking us. So, could you please let Leo know about this. Tell him that the Dursleys burned all any Hogwarts letters that have arrived here. They wouldn't let me read it. Perhaps, he could get in touch with the Headmaster? And now, they are trying to escape from the letters."

"Miz Harry be sure she is alright? Miz Harry needs more food?" The elf asked quickly. But Harry shook her head.

"My aunt and uncle will get suspicious if they see the extra food. I will okay for a few days. I promise to call for you if anything gets too dangerous."

She wouldn't put it past the Dursleys to dump her in the middle of nowhere just to be rid of the letters. Or better yet, be rid of her. The elf didn't look happy but complied with her wishes. A second later Misty popped away. Harry took a deep breath as she checked herself in the mirror. Her hair was a mess. She clipped a few hairpins, pulling stray hair away from her forehead, her scar showing itself once again.

If she was going to be stuck inside a car with her relatives, then they would have to bear it by seeing her lightning-bolt scar. A reminder of her origin, the same thing they were running away from.

Harry smirked vindictively at her own reflection before she went and join the Dursley downstairs.

**: : : : : :**

While Harry went on a forced road trip with the Dursleys, Leo was stuck at Grimmauld Place practicing Arcturus Black's eulogy to the man himself. Arcturus had Leo helped to arrange his funeral services. The old man had his obituary already written for the Daily Prophet, even guests list prepared. And he wasn't even dead yet.

Misty had given Harry's message to him yesterday morning. He couldn't believe that he was so busy with the funeral preparation for Lord Black that Harry had slipped from his mind. It could have been because he had trusted Harry enough to take care of herself. The girl might attract troubles like honey to the bees, but she was also good at getting out of it. She knew to call for Misty if the situation was dire enough.

But getting herself locked inside the cupboard again in less than two months? Or the fact that she let herself stay in there just to listen to her relatives fought uselessly against owl posts? That was new.

Leo had to excuse himself from Lord Black's bedside to write the Headmaster. His letter was short and to the point, telling the older wizard of the Dursleys' attempt to flee from the letters, and sending it off with his owl—Bruce. But not before winning a staring match with his pet. Harry had thought that he named the bird after the famous Scottish King; _Robert the Bruce_. Leo had chuckled when she said it. He couldn't tell her the truth behind the name

His owl came back half a day later with a short reply from Dumbledore, saying that he was taking care of it. Whatever that meant. Misty had assured him that Harry promised to call for her if the Dursleys decided to dump her somewhere. Nevertheless, he sent the elf off to warn Aunt Callisto, and to make sure Harry's coach know that she had a family emergency.

A day and a night were gone without any further updates. Leo's hand often found his pocket before remembering that his mobile did not work at all inside Grimmauld Place. Misty went on with her work of training Lark, said nothing else to him besides looking a bit miffed. When asked, the she-elf replied that she was sad that it was because she couldn't bake Miz Harry a birthday cake.

Leo finally realized another thing he had forgotten, Harry's birthday! He could not believe he forgot all about it! He had not prepared a present yet. He clicked his tongue at himself in annoyance.

"What's with that look on your face, dear?" Aunt Lucretia asked him during lunch. The two of them sat together in the basement kitchen. Lord Black was asleep, a side-effect from the draught he took. It seemed to be all he did these past few days. And when he woke the man bossed around both Leo and Aunt Lucretia about his own funeral's preparation.

Leo shrugged and eyes fixed at his glass of water. "I'm just worried about Harry. Today's also her eleventh birthday."

"Ah, an important age." His grandaunt smiled. "Has she received the letter yet?"

"Not exactly," He straightened in his seat. Aunt Lucretia lifted a single brow questioningly, a movement so similar to Aunt Callisto. "Her muggle guardians aren't very…. _receptive_ at the moment."

"You mean they're trying to hinder her from receiving the letter?" asked his grandaunt.

"Something like that." He took another sip of water. Debating how much he should give the details away. After all, it wasn't _his_ story to tell. So, instead, he added what he could share. "I've owled Headmaster Dumbledore, he said that he's taking care of it."

"Then you should not worry. Hogwarts always has its own ways of tracking students' locations, since they need to send out letters each year. Instead…." She suddenly sat up with a smile on her face. "Tell me about this Hariel Potter. I do not believe whatever those fancy storybooks wrote about her was very accurate."

Leo returned with a lifted eyebrow of his own. "You've met her. Why are you asking me?"

Aunt Lucretia's eyes glinted under the gas lamps, a small smile still on her lips. "Don't be so obtuse, darling. How else am I to know what to gift her? You're the only one who knows the girl well enough. You are her friend, are you not?"

For some reason, Leo didn't believe that reason one bit. Not with the shining glint in her eyes. But since he didn't sense anything malicious behind it, he complied with the request. "Well, it's hard to describe Harry. She's quite chaotic and hot-headed. Oh, and she's very stubborn."

"Hmm….a classic Potter then." She paused for a sip of her tea. "Did you know that I dated Fleamont Potter when I was in the fifth year? He was a seventh-year Gryffindor. And my…..he was wild as his hair!" She added a dreamy sigh at the end as if to emphasize her point even more.

_Fleamont Potter?_ The same Fleamont Potter who fathered _James Potter_?!

Leo choked on his water as soon as the realization hit him. Aunt Lucretia let out a giggle behind her hand as she watched him suffered a coughing fit for several minutes. "Ugh. I _do not_ want to know that."

"Oh, you need to loosen up, darling. You looked like McGonagall when she preparing for her O.W.L.s." His great aunt laughed into her tea again. "You may look like your father but, my…. your demeanors are quite different."

Leo didn't know any McGonagall, but he did know that his personality was much more serious than his father's. "Thank you?"

While he loved his father, Leo knew that Sirius Black could be quite childish, reckless, and impulsive. Especially when he became emotional. A pitfall which Leo had been cautioned of. He could never afford to fall in the same trap.

Aunt Lucretia seemed to sense the sensitivity from mentioning his father, she quickly changed subjects. "Never mind about that. Now tell me about the girl. Does she have any hobbies?"

"Well…..she does this muggle sports. She rather good at it, actually." Now this was the topic he could get behind. While he hadn't wanted to talk about Harry herself. He could proudly tell anyone about how great she was at gymnastics. The girl took so much pride in it.

"Oohhh…an athletic. So, what sports does she do? I know quite a few muggle sports."

"It's called gymnastics."

"Ah! I know that one. Hm….an interesting choice." She paused again, "Hmm…. from what I know, isn't the sport requires a lot of self-discipline? Didn't you just describe her as chaotic?"

"Harry is…. quite a contradiction." He admitted.

"Well, I have some idea of what to gift her….hmm, yes, a perfect gift! Kreacher!" exclaimed his great aunt, before calling for the old elf. Kreacher appeared with a pop, he bowed low with a muttering breath. Aunt Lucretia ignored his usual antics, "Go and bring me the mail order forms on my night desk."

"At once, mistress." With that, the elf popped away.

Leo had wanted to say she didn't have to. Or at least, that was what Harry would have wanted him to say. But far be it from him to stop his relative from being nice to his friend. In the end, the older Black hadn't shared what she had gotten for Harry. Well, he guessed he would know in a few days….or as soon as this business with the Dursleys' running away was done with.

While he didn't know Dumbledore all that well. But he knew enough that the Headmaster was very invested in Harry's safety. Leo could count on that his friend would receive the letter, one way or another. And no matter what the Dursleys did, or how far they ran, there was no stopping Hariel Potter from going to Hogwarts.

**: : : : : :**

Harry could not believe all that happened in the last 48 hours. First was the letters barrage in 4 Private Drive' kitchen that drove the Dursleys to flee from the house. Uncle Vernon drove aimlessly for hours, only stopped sometimes for petrol, or snacks and drinks for Dudley.

The first real stop that wasn't petrol stations, was a motel in Cokeworth. They were in the process of checking in when one of the staff handed them a familiar yellowish envelope. Her Uncle's face turned purple once more as he tore the letter to pieces. They abandoned the check-in right then. Before her uncle bellowed for everyone to go wait in the car.

It wasn't until twenty minutes later that Uncle Vernon came back, face grimed as he squeezed into the driver seat. Dudley was sulking but happy enough with his mouth and stomach occupied with snacks. Harry could hear her uncle muttered lowly to Aunt Petunia about someone lending a place, that no one would find them there. Harry wanted to laugh at the attempt but for now, she could only do it internally. She knew that unless the place her relative had picked, was protected from magical tracking, there was no way her aunt and uncle could stop the letters from coming.

After a few more hours of endless driving, Uncle Vernon finally parked the car at the coast. He locked them all inside the car and disappeared for a while. Harry ignore Dudley's whining about a TV Show to Aunt Petunia, she pressed her face to the windowpane, looking for a clue of their whereabouts. But aside from the coast, there was no other landmark to be identified. The sun already started setting. The sky would have been orange if not for the dark cloud gathered overhead, signaling a coming storm.

"Found the Perfect Place!" announced Uncle Vernon when he came back. "Come On! Everyone out!"

The air was cold outside the car, and the rain started drizzling. The three of them stared after where Uncle Vernon had pointed at, something looking like a large rock in the middle of the sea, with a shack perching on top. Her uncle didn't let any of them complain further, not even Dudley, before ushering them toward the coast. Harry grimaced as she hiked her own rucksack over her shoulder and pulled the hoodie down over her head, prevent herself from getting wet. Aunt Petunia looked a little green as she held an umbrella over her son's head while walking forward with him.

"Storm Forecast for tonight!" Her uncle said gleefully. Harry had no doubt he thought that the storm would dither anyone who would want to send out the letter, _as if_.

They rowed the boat out toward the said rock. It was cold and wet. And once they arrived, the shack itself was also just as terrible, especially the smell. But at least they weren't soaking anymore. All of them had a bag of chips and a banana for dinner, or in Harry's case, just a banana since Dudley stole her chips. Uncle Vernon whistled happily after he mocked her about how he could use those letters now to stoke the fire. Harry just turned away before rolling her eyes.

That night, her aunt and uncle claimed the raggedy bed upstairs. The storm continued to rage outside. The wind and rain howled loudly. Dudley took the couch in front of the fire; he fell asleep after eating any leftover snacks they had bought during the day. Harry had only her rucksack to use as a pillow, no blanket, but that was fine. Her jacket was just as good.

It was when the clock struck midnight, signaling the arrival of her birthday when the shack door broke open by a giant name Rubeus Hagrid. The biggest man Harry had ever seen, bigger than Uncle Vernon.

And he brought Harry her Hogwarts letter.

Everything spiraled almost out of control after that. Her aunt and uncle weren't happy with the man's barging into the shack uninvite. More so because of what he brought with him. They argued over Harry for a good five minutes. It had gotten so heated up when Uncle Vernon insulted the Headmaster, calling Dumbledore a crackpot old fool. Hagrid roared back before pointing his umbrella (Harry was sure it was actually his wand) at Dudley. A flash of violet light that sounded similar to a firecracker boomed. Someone squealed loudly. Dudley suddenly acquired a swirly pig's tail.

Her relatives left quickly after that, right in the middle of the storm. Neither she nor Hagrid cared enough to actually got up and check if they made it back to the shore. She was able to finally read her letter! Everything was the same as Leo's, with the exception of her name and address. Hagrid pulled an owl out of his jacket, wrote a letter and sent it off into the night. The owl didn't even wobble from the rain impact. They went to bed after he announced that he would be taking her to get school supplies the next day.

They set out early in the morning, the boat rowed itself faster with magic back to the shore. (Turned out, Hagrid wasn't supposed to use Magic in front of her, but she promised to keep it a secret.) The people stared at the giant man as they took the train back to London. And then the tube to Charing Cross. They made it to the Leaky Cauldron before noon arrived.

This was when everything went a little weird. It seemed Harry had underestimated her supposed _fame_. Actually, she had forgotten about it! When the bartender/owner of the pub recognized who she was, everyone, she meant _everyone_, made a beeline to introduce themselves, wanting to shake her hand and pat her back, to welcome her back to the magical world. Harry recalled some of the faces she had seen before, one was a short wizard, wearing a top-hat named Dedalus Diggle who waved at her years ago in the middle of the street.

She even met a Hogwarts professor named Quirrell, who would be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year. Harry wished that his stuttering would not deter him too much from teaching. Since it was one of the subjects she looking forward to the most.

After finally extracting themselves from the crowds, Hagrid taught her the mechanic of how to make the entrance to Diagon Alley appeared.

The alley itself was bustling with people; both adults and children wearing colorful robes, some even wore bizarre-shaped hats! Not too many noticed them, unlike earlier at the pub. Harry was a little bit relieved that she didn't have to deal with _that_ again so soon. The shops lined up both sides of the crooked street; selling all kinds of things imaginable from flying broomsticks to cauldrons to all sorts of potions.

Their first stop was the bank ran by the goblins. Leo had drilled her on the adequate greetings for goblins and suggested for her to not piss them off by wasting their time. After appropriated greetings, she quickly handed the attending goblin her vault key which Hagrid had given her earlier this morning. Hagrid also handed a letter from the Headmaster in as well. A few minutes they took a ride in the cart. It was so much fun! Well, for Harry anyway. Hagrid looked as green as grass the whole ride. Harry didn't think he liked the cart much.

The golds within her trust vault startled her a bit even knowing that she had this much money waiting for her. The many stacks of coins made of gold, silver, and copper were even taller than her! She eyed around inside her vault, seeing more than just gold. A few trunks were lining the wall, as well as a few bookshelves. She made a note to come back to visit her vault again before school started, so she could find out what those trunks and the tomes on the shelves were. She had too much to do today already.

Harry shoved a good amount of the coins inside the pouch the Goblin had provided her with, taking more than enough just in case she needed to exchanged them for muggle money.

And then they were off again. Hagrid swayed a little as he got out of the cart to pick something up from Vault 713 for the Headmaster. Harry tried to peak at it but Hagrid's large body filled the gap at the vault door. She only got a glimpse of it when Hagrid came out. Whatever it was, it was small enough to be put inside his coat pocket. But then again, Hagrid did pull out an owl from his coat earlier today.

After the bank, the shopping finally began. Hagrid had dropped her off at a robe shop before excused himself to get some pick-me-up at the pub. Seeing how pitiful the large man looked, Harry didn't protest and let him leave. While she braved a wizarding store by herself for the first time.

Leo had told her that Lord Black had taken him to get school robes from _Twilfitt and Tatting's_. Since they had more fabric selection than _Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions_—which was where Hagrid had left her. Harry didn't see the problem in getting her robes here, so she went inside but not before tugging the hairclip off her bangs. She wasn't ready for another _meet-and-greet_ any time soon. Madam Malkin smiled at her kindly as soon as she stepped inside. The witch knew right away that Harry was here for her school robes. She quickly sent her into the back for fitting.

There was another boy already there on the fitting stool. He had pale skin with silvery blonde hair and a haughty look that reminded her too much of Dudley. Mind you, he was very skinny as oppose to her overweight cousin.

The boy greeted her politely which she returned while letting Madam Malkin did her job of pinning the robe to her size. The conversation was short since she hadn't liked his holier-than-thou tone too much. The more he talked the obvious what kind of family he came from, especially when the boy asked her if her parents were magical. Nevertheless, Harry did have some manners. It became almost unbearable when the boy insulted Hagrid who waved at her from outside the shop window.

Thankfully, Madam Malkin announced that she was done. The witch gave her an order-slip so that she could come to pick up her order later if she hadn't wanted to wait in the store. Harry quickly told her what she would be doing. She said a curt goodbye to the boy before strode out of the store to join Hagrid, her head held high. Knowing the boy would see that the giant man was her chaperon.

They stopped at ice cream parlor for lunch, before continued with the shopping. The rest of the trip was quite boring after that. With her scar covered for the day, no one really looked at her twice. One day when she was ready, she swore she would show her forehead again just as she had been doing for the last few years. Just…. not today.

It wasn't until the last shop—a wand shop called Ollivanders, when the wandmaker greeted her with her name. Good thing there were only the two of them there inside the dusty old shop. Mr. Ollivanders then rattled off about her parents' wands, and how he remembered every wand he ever sold. It unnerved her a little when the man apologized to her, saying he also was the one who sold the wand who gave her the famous scar.

But nothing disturbed her more when they matched her with a wand. Turned out her wand core came from the same phoenix that was inside of Lord Voldemort's wand core.

That information stuck with her for the rest of the day. More than the wonder of Diagon Alley. More than that pale, blonde boy, or even Gringotts's exciting cart ride. She made note internally to mention it to Leo. Maybe there would be something significant about this?

The day was coming to an end as they ambled through the Underground Station with their funny-shaped packages. Harry ignored them in favor of the snowy owl hooting sleepily in the cage—a birthday gift from Hagrid. They stopped for dinner before Hagrid send her back to Little Whinging by train.

Hagrid also gave her the train ticket for Hogwarts before they finally parted, with a promise that Harry would owl him soon.

All in all, today was exciting and magical, despite the little tidbits at the end. She was a little sad that Leo wasn't here to be her guide. But that was okay. Hagrid was kind and funny, even though his sense of danger was a little skewed. (The man had wanted a dragon as a pet, even Harry was _that_ crazy!)

As soon as she got off the train, Harry dumped all her purchases on the cart. She quickly looked for a quiet, and out of the way spot outside the station. Making sure no one saw her, before calling for Misty to whisk her away.

**: : : : : :**

The last month before Hogwarts was full of whirlwinds of things for Harry. In some ways, it could be the busiest and the idlest one month at the same time. Depended on how one looked at it.

Harry didn't step back to Privet Drive again for another two weeks. Instead opted to stay at Lunaria Lane, or sometimes at Grimmauld Place with Leo, until the ward needed to be charged again. And once she did the Dursleys were still half traumatized, half furious. They pretended she didn't exist at all—which was fine by her. They had left her alone, even Aunt Petunia didn't wake her up to cook them breakfast, or nagged for her to do her chores. Improvement in many ways. Harry was relieved, she didn't have to deal with them. Once her quota was up, she announced to her relatives one day that she would be away for Hogwarts starting from the First of September. And would be back once the school year finished in June. And not to worry about where she would be until then.

"Why don't you tell whoever that takes you in to do it permanently then?!" Uncle Vernon said angrily. "You can't, can you? Because no one wants a freak like you!"

Harry felt the corner of her eye twitched at her uncle's words. Once upon a time, it might have hurt her so much. But not anymore. Instead, she smirked. "It is this freak that keeps your family safe all this year, dear uncle."

"W…what are you on about?" Uncle Vernon sputtered in surprise.

"Oh, you didn't know?" Harry grinned with all her teeth. She tilted her head toward Aunt Petunia who stiffened under her gaze. "The only thing keeps this house protected is me and my magic—"

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT WORD IN THIS HOUSE!" Her uncle roared.

Ignoring him she continued, "Without me charging the spell, those dark wizards would have found you years ago. You do remember them, don't you, Aunt Petunia?"

Her aunt went pale and sputtered. "But—but they said that he was gone!"

"Oh, he is. I'm talking about his followers. They're still alive, you know? Don't worry, Professor Dumbledore told me, you will be safe as long as you let me stay here every summer to charge the protection." Harry smirked when the Dursleys paled again after hearing the Headmaster's name. Confirming her suspicion that they did know about Dumbledore.

She hiked her rucksack over her shoulder and pushed open the front door.

"See you all in June! Don't miss me too much!" Harry cheered as she skipped out of the door. She pretended not to hear her uncle demanding for her to go back and explain.

Maybe one day she would come to regret the decision of telling the Dursleys about the protection around the house. But that day she hadn't cared enough. Nor did she want to.

Her gymnastics practice came to a stop now that she decided to take a break from the sport, until the time that she'd find a new coach in the magical world. Harry still made a trip to the club once a week though, just to keep her skills sharp. Most of her days she spent reading through the school materials. Her new owl—her very own pet, as a constant company, even when she stayed at Privet Drive. Harry had named her Hedwig. A name she found in _A History of Magic_. Every few days, she'd write to Hagrid and Aoife Hawke, talking about anything and nothing, but most importantly; the anticipation of going Hogwarts. Hedwig would deliver the letters diligently and eagerly for her every time.

Occasionally, she visited Grimmauld Place with Leo. They had given Harry her own room on the same floor as Leo's room. It was decorated just like her room at Lunaria Land, dominating with red and gold color.

Lord Black looked frailer and frailer every time she saw him. Harry wasn't sure why he had asked for her or even gave her a room at Grimmauld Place when he was barely awake to greet her at all. But she complied with the dying man's wish anyway, since she didn't see any harm in it. She spent most of her time at the Black resident, inside the newly organized library, reading from a section that was deemed safe enough. Sometimes, Leo came down and kept her company. Even Madam Lucretia spent time with her, chatting about magical beauty products, fashions, and mundane things.

Leo had given her a late birthday present; a satchel charmed with a limited degree of wizarding space; it could hold more than it looked on the outside while staying light-weighted. It was mainly for her school-use but could double as her go-back if she needed it too. Madam Callisto had bought her more clothes again, this time they were magically appropriated; casual robes, tailored-fit shoes. But it was Madam Lucretia who surprised her the most when she gifted Harry a basket set of _Sleekeazy's Hair Potion and Scalp Treatment_—to help make her hair more manageable, she said. She also told her that the potion was invented by none other than Harry's grandfather; Fleamont Potter.

It turned out the older Black lady had known her grandfather in his school years. Although, Harry didn't quite understand the ill-look Leo kept spotting every time Madam Lucretia brought him up.

One day in August, Madam Lucretia had offered to chaperon her to Diagon Alley after Harry had mentioned that she'd wanted to visit her vault again to sort things out. And this time Leo would be going with her. After Lord Black had taken his draught and fell asleep, they left him in the cares of the three house-elves.

Harry had her forehead covered again. She needed more time for coming to terms with how to deal with the adoring crowds. And so, no one paid much attention to them. There were still people who recognized Madam Lucretia occasionally but not to a degree that they could not handle it.

She spent almost an hour inside the vault with Madam Lucretia and Leo, with one-timed permission to enter the vault. The attending goblin wasn't too happy but said nothing.

The trunks belonged to her parents, which she could not open them until she received the keys when their wills were read in the coming years. Harry left them alone for now.

The books and tomes were mostly Hogwarts-related, also owned by her parents. Some were notes, written by them. Most of them were for the advanced years like O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s preparations. She spied a few older editions of the current course books like _A History of Magic_, and _Magical Drafts and Potions_. Harry picked up a few of them that Madam Lucretia said weren't too advanced for her to read. Harry brushed her fingers over her mother and father's handwritings scrawling on the pages longingly, before putting them inside the charmed satchel.

Once the business at Gringotts was done, they gave quick stops to several shops. Harry bought extra stationaries, a wand holster, and more owl treats for Hedwig. Leo purchased extra potion ingredients and a package of high-quality tea for Madam Callisto.

By the time they came back to Grimmauld Place, the whole afternoon had passed. Madam Lucretia went to check up on her father, leaving both her and Leo to put their purchases away. The two of them spent their time chatting about nothing at all, until the time for dinner.

Nothing significant else happened for the rest of the week. Both Harry and Leo spent their time back and forth between Lunaria Lane and Grimmauld Place. Their activities consisted of watching movies and playing video games when they were at Madam Callisto's house. While reading took most of their time at Grimmauld Place since no television would work there without installing runes to null the magic. And Leo was being respectful to Lord Black enough not to bring anything muggle-related inside the house, just yet.

Days passed by quickly. The last stretch of August finally arrived. Harry and Leo had started packing for school. They wrote down the list of what to bring, what items they could share to save the space inside their trunks. Since they didn't know if they would be in the same house or not. Even going through the lists, Harry had already had to pack and repack at least three times. Leo, on the other hand, only did it twice, and only because of the books which Harry had foisted on him.

On the Night of the 27th of August, both Leo and Harry were roused from the comfort of their beds in Little Whinging, by a frantic Lark. The young house-elf quickly informed them that Lord Arcturus Black had finally passed away in his sleep after months of bed rest.

Leo was the only one who had to leave for Grimmauld Place to take care of things. But Harry found it difficult to go back to sleep. Instead, she went down to the basement for some exercise. She must have been there for hours because, by the time Misty came to get her, it was already late morning. Although it was only Harry and a somber Madam Callisto in the kitchen, being served breakfast by an equally subdued Misty.

"Do not worry about him, dear. Leonis's just busy sending out the funeral invitations, most of the works had already been done beforehand. And Lucretia is already dealt with both Gringotts and the Ministry." The older woman assured. "We'll just have to attend the funeral."

"I'm not sure of what to do, I've never been to a funeral before. Let alone a wizarding one." Harry said, poking the egg with her fork.

"It's been a while for me as well. But it's not so different from the muggle one. To be honest, it wasn't the procession that worried me." Madam Callisto sighed into her morning tea.

_It's the people who would be attending_, was the words that left unsaid. But Harry knew it all the same. She had gotten a glimpse of a short guest list; Lord Black hadn't wanted too many people there. She knew about some of the people who would be there. Leo had never kept it a secret how much he detested the Malfoys. Although the other boy had tried to dissuade Harry from being biased because of how he felt. She still believed in being cautious around them. After all, they did support the man who had tried and failed to kill her.

**: : : : : :**

The funeral of Lord Arcturus Black was held on the last day of August at Shadow's Creek Cemetery, in Wiltshire where the old Black Estate sat in ruins less than a mile away. Harry imagined how magnificent the once great-house must have looked like during its glory days, just by seeing the remaining shell. Grindelwald must have wanted to end the Black bloodline so badly. The damages left by him and his forces were extensive enough to drive the remaining Blacks to their London resident.

It made her think of the Potter Manor. Her own ancestral home had been closed off by the wards cast by her parents since the day they had gone into hiding. And it would remain so until the day their wills could be read. She didn't even want to think about what state the house would be in once it happened.

Harry arrived at the site by a provided portkey. And immediately stumbled face-first into the ground if not for Madam Callisto's catching her beforehand, her usual gymnast's reflex notwithstanding. She quickly adjusted her black dress; tailored especially for this funeral from _Twilfitt and Tattings_. Her shoes; a pair of black ballet flats to match her dress. Her hair was pulled up into a twisted crown braid, her forehead bared for the world to see.

Lord Black had requested she attended his funeral as Hariel Potter. That meant no hiding behind a lock of hair. She knew full well there would be some reporters there, Arcturus Black _was_ the head of one of the oldest houses in Great Britain, no matter how uninvolved he had been for the last few decades.

Shadow's Creek Cemetery was a cemetery the Blacks had used exclusively for centuries. There was no one else buried here but the Black. Harry spotted many headstones with Black last names engraved on, as she followed Leo's great-aunt toward where the service would be taking place. Almost every Black was buried here, even one who chose to be cremated. It was a tradition to bury their remains, or in some case—ashes, in this cemetery. Both of Leo's grandparents were buried here. But his mother was not, she was buried somewhere in Scotland, among the McKinnon.

The site of the service was a clearing in the middle of the cemetery itself. The casket of vanished dark wood sat up front, upper half left open. Lord Black was laid and dressed in finest wizard robes, hands clapped together with his wand between them, eye closed as if he was sleeping. There was no flower on his person, he insisted on it before passing away.

Chairs were arranged neatly, four seats between two aisles. There were only five rows of seats, that made the total of the guests at forty. Lord Black wasn't kidding when he said he wanted a small, private service. Only immediate family, closest friends, and associates. Two seats were reserved in the last row, as a courtesy, for whomever the Daily Prophet had sent to cover the funeral.

When they reached the location, most of the guests had already arrived, most already in their seats. Leo and Madam Lucretia had been already been here for hours, greeting and taking care of the attending guests. Harry spotted Professor Dumbledore's tall frame among the occupying seats toward the back row. He sat next to an enormously fat, bald old wizard who looked like he had taken two seats by himself. The conversation between them seemed to halt when both spotted her arrival. The other wizard's eyes went wide, but Professor Dumbledore only nodded his head and gave her a small smile. Harry returned it politely but continued walking toward the front row where her friend had been standing.

On the way, her eyes spotted some people. She picked Andromeda Tonks out easily. She possessed the Black's bone structure, even if her hair was brown instead of black. The woman had sat in the second row with her husband and daughter. Her back ram-rod straight, looking as uncomfortable as the rest of her little family. All three of them whispered among themselves when they noticed Harry and Madam Callisto's presence. The older Black next to her stiffen under their gaze. The apprehension seemed to thicken even more.

Harry tore her eyes away from them, she didn't want to pry into whatever issue Madam Callisto had with Andromeda Tonks. Instead, she swept her eyes around again. And to her surprise, saw a familiar face.

It was the pale, blond boy she met at Madam Malkin's. He sat between a man and a woman, at the front row of the right section. From the shade of blond hair, all three had possessed, it would be safe to assume that they were closely related. Possibly, the pair were his parents. And from where they sat, it could also be assumed that they somehow related to the Black. They all looked up when the whispering started to get louder. Harry looked away from them, not wanting to be caught staring.

As they walked up the aisles, she could feel many eyes fell on her. Madam Callisto's grip tightened on her shoulder as they kept walking. The gasps, the stares, and the whisperings floated all around them. But she kept her head held high, with game-face on.

_"Is that who I think it is?"_

_"It's the Girl Who Lived!"_

_"Look at the scar! It's really her!"_

_"Do you think she would give me an autograph?"_

_"Isn't the woman next to her a Black squib? What is she doing here?"_

Seriously, this was ridiculous! They acted like she was some kind of celebrity!... Oh wait, technically, she was, wasn't she? No wonder everyone kept wanting to shake her hands at the Leaky Cauldron! At least, people were more discreet here. It was a _funeral_, after all.

Leo and Madam Lucretia who had been standing together also spotted their arrival, they greeted both with a solemn face. Harry took in the look of them. Leo's face was mostly blank, almost detached. There was no sadness showing from him. Neither was Madam Lucretia. The woman did look tired instead. They didn't seem sad or agonizing about Lord Black's death. But it was probably because they had known it was coming. They had time to come to terms with it. Leo only spent time with him less than a year after all.

"You're here," said Leo. "How's the portkey?"

"Awful." Harry grouched as she glanced around. All eyes still on them, all ears as well. It seemed almost everyone was leaning forward

"Look like we a little bit late, is that really alright?"

"You're not late, Dear. You are just in time." Madam Lucretia patted her shoulder as they lead her toward the empty seats. "Here, you both will be sitting with us."

Madam Callisto glanced at the seats, then looking at the other guests, she frowned. "Lucretia, you do know I should not be sitting here, at the front row."

"Of course, you are. You are family, aren't you?" The older Black lady insisted, ignoring the gaping guests who just overhead their conversation. "Leonis, darling, stay and keep your friend company. We'll be starting soon."

With that the oldest Black strode away, greeting and talking to other guests. Leo waited for Harry and Madam Callisto to sit down before took a seat between them. Harry's chair was at the furthest left end, of the left aisle. A placement she was thankful for since she didn't have to sit next to any stranger if they didn't count the person sitting behind her.

_"Why does she sit with that squib boy?"_

_"I heard he isn't a squib at all! Lord Black took him shopping at Diagon Alley a few times."_

_"Don't be daft. Even a squib can buy things from Diagon Alley!"_

_"I've heard Lord Black is making him an heir!"_

_"Oh, my….No wonder Lucius Malfoy looked like he'd just swallowed dragon dunk."_

The whispers behind her kept growing. Harry hadn't wanted to eavesdrop, but they talked loud enough for her to hear. She was sure Leo had heard it too. But the boy's face was still fixed with a deadpan expression. But his hands clenched tight into fists. Harry decided to distract him by leaning into him, she ignored the gasping from behind them.

"Hey, you remember that boy I told you about? The one I met at Madam Malkin's. He's here." Harry whispered to him. Leo leaned closer to her. Without even glancing toward the said person, he seemed to know it was she talked about. It wasn't hard, there were only three children their age at this funeral after all.

"Ah. So, you had the pleasure of meeting with my illustrious cousin then." Leo said casually.

"Is he? He sounded so much like Dudley, but with magical kinds of stuff instead of bragging about hitting the younger students on the playground."

"Hmm…." His eyes flicked toward the other boy for a second. "It seems you made quite an impression on him. He's staring at you."

"More like staring at my scar." Harry dismissed the statement. So, the man with long hair must have been the boy's father; Lucius Malfoy. However, their conversation was cut short because the time for the service had started.

The rest of the funeral proceeded just as planned, or at least as close to what Lord Black had requested before his passing as possible. Most of the guests had the decency to stop gossiping about her and Leo. The staring had not stopped at all, however. Harry guessed this was going to become something she had to deal with on a daily basis from now on.

Leo had his poker-face on the whole time. In fact, all of three the Blacks she had been sitting with were. The older Black women kept their chin high, eyes front, faces blank. Masks of cold detachment.

Soon, the service finally came to an end. The casket was nailed shut and lowered into the ground. Leo had allowed Kreacher to help with his late master's burial, as the old elf had requested. The guests started to get up from their seats. Harry noticed how indiscreetly Lucius Malfoy, leading his wife and son through the crowd toward them. Lucretia took one look around and her face tightened, she nodded her head at her squib cousin.

"I think it's time we have a little chat with our dear cousins. Shall we?" The eldest Black said with a tight smile. Leo followed her gaze for a second and realized what she was referring to.

"Of course." Leo offered his arm to the woman and smiled charmingly. Lucretia returned with a practiced one of her own as she took his arm. The two walked away, to cut off the oncoming Malfoys.

"Mrs. _Prewett_," drawn the long-haired man whom Harry believed to be Lucius Malfoy. Harry was closed enough that she could hear the sneer in his voice. His cold, pale gaze slid toward Harry's direction. It was only a second, but enough to send a chill down her spine. "I am surprised by the abysmal number of guests attending. Such a shame, the organizer must have been incompetent. Or was it because of the company you keep…"

"Narcissa, my dear. It's been so long since we last met. Your complexion looks dreadful. Must have been the stress from having such an incompetent man as a husband." Madam Lucretia's sweet tone could be heard, she completely ignored the man. Harry was reminded again, that no matter how nice and accepting she was, Lucretia Prewett was born a Black. Her sweet words could still cut you as good as a severing spell.

"I'm quite well, thank you, Aunt Lucretia." The thin, blond woman greeted back smoothly. "You remember my son, Draco?"

"Of course." The older witch smiled prettily, but her tone was dismissive. Instead, she patted Leo's shoulder. "But this is the first time you meet my lovely grandnephew in person, yes? Narcissa, may I introduce Orion's grandson; Leonis Black. Son of Sirius Black, the _chosen heir_ of House of Black."

There might have been gasps and shouts after the bombshell, but before Harry could discern whose response was which, Madam Callisto had wrapped her arm around Harry's shoulder. In her hand was an empty plastic bottle, the returning portkey that Madam Lucretia had arranged for them. "Come on, Hariel, darling. Let's get you home before these vultures get their claws into you."

Harry frowned, "But what about—"

"They'd been expecting this. So, he will be fine." The older woman insisted, as Harry hesitantly reached out to grab on the plastic bottle. A minute later, Madam Callisto said the activation phrase, whisking the both of them away through magical space.

**: : : : : :**

On the first of September, Harry and Leo were roused early by Kreacher to get ready from their beds at Grimmauld Place. The old elf gave Harry a disapproving look when he saw what Harry was wearing; cigarette trousers, a tugged-in t-shirt, and her club jacket. Basically, a very muggle get-up, as opposed to Leo's wizard robe. Mind you, they weren't Dudley's second-hands, these were good quality clothes. But they were still very muggle. Harry shrugged; she didn't bother thinking about it too much. They'd be changing into school robes on the train anyway. With that in mind, she went down to the kitchen with Hedwig's cage in her hand. Her snowy owl still sleeping with her head tugging under her wings.

Leo was already there. His owl—Bruce, perching inside his own cage, eyeing the bacon on the plate. They were joined by Madam Lucretia a few minutes later. It was also when they found out that Lord Black's funeral was a featured article on the Daily Prophet's front page of the morning edition. The article was printed along with a moving photograph of Harry and the three Blacks sitting together during the funeral. Harry had read through it during breakfast and found herself frowning. Most of the details were so inaccurate, they were ridiculous.

"I didn't know the Daily Prophet is a tabloid newspaper." Harry scowled and tossed the newspaper on the table.

"The Daily Prophet will be whatever the ministry or any backers with deep enough pockets, want it to be, my dear. You both would do well to remember that." Madam Lucretia said, sipping her morning tea.

"Apparently, we somehow blackmailed you into showing up at the funeral. As if we can make you do anything." Leo snorted into his glass of milk. "I'll bet you five galleons that this is another handiwork of Lucius Malfoy."

"I don't know the man personally, but I know enough not to take a sucker bet." Harry shook her head in distaste. The man wasted no time, starting with the slandering again.

"Smart girl. Do not worry. We'll deal with the annoying pest later." The older Black smiled as she set her cup down. "For now, make sure you have everything packed. We are leaving for King's Cross station soon."

"Don't worry, Aunt Lucretia. We've finished packing days ago. And I've checked everything again last night. We've got everything." Leo eyed his wristwatch. "Aunt Callisto said she'll meet us at the barrier. But she won't be staying long. She has a morning meeting in London today."

"I'm surprised she's still working at her age. Shouldn't she be retiring by now?" The older witch asked curiously.

"She said, there's no retirement in the Business World. And I guess, she just likes to keep busy." Leo shrugged. His gaze flicked toward Harry who spotted a scowl on her face, and Hogwarts Express ticket in her hand. "Something's the matter?"

"Well, I've been meaning to ask this for a while now. But I keep forgetting," Harry looked up, a questioning look on her face. "Where is this Platform Nine and Three-Quarters? I've been to King's Cross, but never seen that platform before."

Leo tilted his head to one side. "You know, I was thinking the same thing."

"Of course, you wouldn't see it, dear. Not from the outer side anyway." Madam Lucretia smiled genuinely at the two of them before gotten up from her seat. "Misty, Lark, move their trunks to the foyer. We will be leaving in ten minutes." The elves replied with a bow and popped away. The older witch then turned the older elf, "Kreacher, I will be returning to my home for a few weeks to take care of a few things. I will call for you when I'm ready to return. In the meantime, could you please make sure the house is in good shape?"

"As mistress wishes." Kreacher grumbled but bowed his head low. The old elf turned back around and continued puttering around the kitchen.

"As I said, we have ten minutes before our departing for the King's Cross." The older witch checked her pocket watch. "We'll be apparating to apparition point hidden near the station. Since it's still early, there shouldn't be too many people yet. I will take both of you. Your elves will be waiting on the other side of the gate with your trunks and pets. Any question?"

"Aoife said she'll be meeting us on the train. That's about it." Harry stuffed the ticket back inside her satchel. She and Aoife had been writing a lot this past week, enthusiastic about their upcoming school year. Their plans also including sharing the compartment on the train as well.

Madam Lucretia nodded back in acknowledgment. "Very well, wait for me at the foyer. I'll be back in a few minutes."

With that, the older witch strode away toward the powder room.

Harry looked at the boy with a grin on her face. "It's really happening! We are going to Hogwarts!"

Leo returned with a lopsided one. "Indeed, we are. Let's hope we have an interesting year ahead of us."

Harry laughed as she bounced to her feet and picked up Hedwig's cage. Knowing her luck, that was bound to happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PS :: Yesss! We are now officially at the start of year 1 timeline! And yes, Lord Black is no longer with us. I had a thought of keeping him alive longer. Because of how much fun I had writing him. But alas, I went with the original idea of having him pass away. And instead, we’ve got another Black; Lucretia is Arcturus’s daughter in canon. I’ve kept her pretty close to the lore as much as I can. 
> 
> Next chapter, I will be introducing more OCs students. Most of them won’t impact the story too much just yet. I will give a fair warning again once I post the next chapter. Because some readers do not like reading a story with OCs. 
> 
> Until then, stay safe and healthy! on't forget to let me know what you think of this chapter. Or you can follow the progress update on my twitter: astachan14


	7. Year 1 Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for our Protagonists to make new friends _and_ new enemies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Disclaimer ::** Same as Chapter 1.
> 
> **Warning ::** Fem!Harry. Crossover. AU. No Beta, we die like men. My grammar is as bad as house-elf. This is not a fix-it story, something will be better and something will be worst. This fic is also cross-posted on AO3
> 
> **A/N ::** Year 1 is officially here! Are you excited? I am excited! A little bit before we start.
> 
> There will be three 'Borrowed Characters' from other fandoms. While I can just make up all new characters from scratch, I chose to do it this way instead. I've thought about this for a while when I was plotting the story. I know some people will not like the character I've chosen, and I cannot make you read it if you really hate the idea. But if you do not mind, please give it a chance.
> 
> Some parts here might sound like bashing but I assure you that it is not. Some characters had certain behaviors that will be explained in later chapters.
> 
> As always, thank you for all the comments/reviews/PMs/sub/like/fav/kudos/bookmarks! I will try to get back to you as soon as possible.
> 
> **Timeline;** 1st September 2011

**Chapter 7 :: Year 1 Part 2  
Rendezvous on the Scarlet Engine.**

The apparition point they had arrived at was a small, out-of-the-way alley. It sat nearby King’s Cross Station—one of several apparition points around the station designated by the Ministry. It was covered with layers of protective enchantments—Muggle repellence as well as Notice-Me-Not so that the Muggles would not notice people popping out of thin air.

As they emerged, Madam Lucretia straightened the non-existent crease on her dress and adjusted her askew half-hat. As she ushered both Harry and Leo through the throng of Muggles, her Edwardian styled, lace-up boots clicking on the pavement. Nobody paid attention to the older witch’s vintage outfit.

Since it was only a quarter to nine, the spot didn’t have much traffic of witches and wizards just yet. On the other hand, it was during the rush hour of the train station. Hundreds—no, thousands of Muggles milled about. Madam Callisto led them through the crowd with practiced grace. Still, it took them almost fifteen minutes to finally reach the platforms area. Harry was grateful she didn’t have to drag both her trunk and Hedwig’s cage through the mass of people like this. She made a note to herself to thanks both Misty and Lark before departing.

Standing between the black and white signs which indicating the platform number 9 and number 10, was none other than Callisto Black. The older woman was dressed in a navy-blue business suit, a matching handbag at the cook of her arm, and white high-heels. Her hair a smart, respectable updo. She looked up from her mobile as if sensing their approach. The cool exterior switched to a warm smile.

“Good morning, my lovelies.” Madam Callisto greeted them, pocketing her mobile into her handbag. Harry and Leo greeted her back. “It’s especially crowded today, but you all made good time. I have only seen a handful of students passing through.”

Curiously, Harry looked around for the said platform, but nothing was out of the ordinary at all. The only thing that she noticed was that the Muggles seemed to leave this spot alone. Some walked into the area but suddenly turned around once they were close enough. This must have been the effect of Muggle Repellence charm she had heard so much about.

“Is the barrier always open?” Harry asked curiously.

“No, it’s only opened when Hogwarts Express is running. That’s about six times a year.” Madam Lucretia replied.

“So, at the start and end of the year. And…. holidays?” asked Leo.

“Christmas and Easter, yes.” The oldest Black answered and stepped forward to the brick wall between the signs of Platform 9 and 10. She waved her hands for both of them to come forward. “Come, Misty and Lark should arrive with your trunks and owls on the other side by now.”

She waited until the two of them came to stand where she wanted them before put her hands on their shoulder. “Here’s how you get through the barrier; you are going to walk straight through this patch of the wall, no stopping, no hesitating, and do not be afraid. It’s all about the intention. You can run or fast-walk instead if you want.” 

“Sounds easy enough,” said Leo. He glanced over at Harry. “Who’s going first?”

“Don’t mind if I do.” Harry shrugged.

“I will go with you then,” said Madam Lucretia. “And Leo can go with Callisto.”

“Very well.” The other woman nodded and grabbed on to Leo’s shoulder while Madam Lucretia did the same with Harry’s.

Harry took a deep breath; she felt the grip on her shoulder tightened as she exhaled. Without saying anything else, she strode forward with a fast walk. Madam Lucretia moved with her. Together they marched as one into the orange brick wall. Harry held her breath but decided not to close her eyes. Something dark obscured her vision for a second, or did she blink? Whatever it was, the expected clash never came. And when she could see clearly again just as they pushed through, Harry gasped at the sight.

A steam engine locomotive was a sight that greeted her. Both the steam engine and the passenger carriages were scarlet red. They were standing on another platform. A sign overhead saying Hogwarts Express:11 o’clock. Harry turned around and looked behind her just as Leo and Madam Callisto stepped through a wrought-iron archway, there were words Platform Nine and Three Quarters on it. 

“Bloody hell,” Harry muttered as she stood in awe. Smoke from the engine drifted lazily over the heads of the crowds. Several people were already walking around with the carts filled with trunks and pet carriers.

“My words,” Leo had a similar reaction, as his eyes swept through the platform. The two Black women said nothing, letting both Harry and Leo took in the first sight of Hogwarts Express. They moved slowly away from the gate in case someone else came running through.

“Master Leo! Mistresses!” A familiar voice called for them, all four of them turned to see Misty and Lark jumping up and down, waving enthusiastically. Next to them were their trunks, Hedwig and Bruce squawked unhappily inside their respective cages. 

“Thank you for bringing us our trunks, Misty, Lark.” Harry took a moment to say her gratitude, which both elves beamed at it before turned her attention back to her surrounding once more.

She craned her neck and saw that most people seemed to flock toward the first few carriages of the train, some students already changed into their school uniforms. Some were hanging out through the opened windows, talking to their families. Harry looked back toward the barrier again, more people came through, including a pair of giggling dark hair twins with their family, a tall boy with pretty sandy hair and his chattery father.

“We are early, so we should have no problem finding ourselves some seats,” Leo commented as he took in the sight.

“The first three carriages are usually reserved for Prefects,” Madam Lucretia said as she gestured toward the said carriages where a few students already stood around in their uniforms. “See the badges on their robes? Those are Prefects. If you need help, you can ask them. Most oblige to help you since it’s their duty.”

Harry didn’t miss the word ‘Most’, she knew about the Inter-House rivalries that Madam Lucretia had informed them about it. She just hoped that Leo ended up in the same house as hers.

“So, where do you want to sit?” asked Leo. “Toward the front, or the back?”

“Um…if it’s any difference, I’d rather somewhere with less traffic?” Harry replied while she kind of came to terms with her fame. It didn’t mean she was comfortable with it just yet. She’d rather no one bother them the whole ride to school.

“The back it is then.” Madam Lucretia confirmed as they made their way toward the end carriages. Harry and Leo carried their owls, while the elves followed them with levitating trunks. Misty and Lark helped them stored their trunks into space under the seats, while the two women waited on the platform. They picked that spot instead of overhead racks since it’s easier to get to their trunks when they need to. They’d need to change into their uniforms soon anyway. 

Once their trunks stored away and their owls left inside the compartment, Harry followed Leo back down to the platform again. The two house-elves were already starting the water work. Harry looked at them questioningly before noticing Madam Lucretia was also spotted with red-rimmed eyes, even Madam Callisto was sniffling.

“Why are you all crying?” Leo asked with a frown on his face.

“You have…. You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do this,” said Madam Lucretia. She wiped her brimming eyes with her kerchief. “I cannot have children, and I have come to terms with it a long time ago.” She sucked a breath. “You might not be my child, but you've given me the chance to feel what it would be like to send my children off to Hogwarts.” The older witch smiled at both of them. “And for that, I thank you.”

“What she said,” Madam Callisto said shortly, wiping her tears away.

The boy looked a bit stunned. If it wasn’t so inappropriate, Harry would have laughed at Leo’s awkward reaction.

“We….we be missing….missing Young Master…and Miz Harry.” Misty wailed into her hands, Lark followed her lead and did the same.

“Hey, hey, hey. There is no need to cry. I’m sure you can visit us, right?” Harry offered, look to Leo for confirmation. The boy just blinked and said nothing until she elbowed him in the gut.

“Ow…um…yes, of course.” He scowled back at her, rubbing his stomach. The elves looked relieved, but still sniffling in the background.

Madam Callisto took a deep breath before flicked her gaze to his watch, “It’s nearly time I have to leave. Alright, be good both of you. Study hard and play hard. Make friends, make enemies. Don’t cause too much trouble, you hear? No sneaking out of school or at night. No doing drugs--”

“Aunt Callisto, it’s a magical school,” Leo said, deadpan. Harry just chuckled.

“You would be surprised what kind of drugs a magical school has.” Madam Lucretia stressed.

“Fine. No drugs, got it.” Leo rolled his eyes.

“No planning someone’s murder--”

“How about maiming?”

“Yes, but nothing too permanent. And only do it without getting caught.” The older witch said firmly.

“I’m starting to worry about what kind of school life I will be having now….” Harry muttered to Leo.

“And don’t forget to write to us, both of you!” Madam Callisto sniffed again. “Oh, bloody hell, come here!”

They were all pulled into a group hug, even the stiffened Madam Lucretia and the wailing house-elves. Leo sighed in defeat, while Harry just let herself be squeezed without complaints. After several minutes they were let go.

“Thank you all for everything,” Harry said sincerely, “I wouldn’t have survived my _dear_ relatives without your help. That’s including you as well, Misty.”

“Oh, you would have, my dear. We’ve hardly done anything but giving you the opportunities.” Madam Callisto waved her hand.

“You won’t be disappointed if I’m not sorted in Slytherin, will you?” Leo asked the older witch.

Harry could hear the underlining word; would she be disappointed if he followed through his father’s footsteps into Gryffindor?

Madam Lucretia tilted her head curiously. “You do have a making of a Slytherin, but no. I couldn’t care less what House you end up in. As long as you don’t slack off on your study.”

Leo nodded, “Good to know.”

“Well, it’s time for me to go.” Madam Callisto announced. “Lucretia and I will discuss what to do about Christmas. We’ll let you know by owls at a later date.”

Once they said their final goodbyes, Lucretia disapparated away with a twist on her heels. The house-elves bowed their heads and disappeared. Leo had a peculiar look on his face as they watched Callisto made her ways toward the barrier. Just as another family passed through, she was gone with a blink of an eye.

“Well, it’s just us now.” Besides her, Leo sucked in a deep breath and exhaled. “Do you want to wait for Aoife here, on the platform, or back in our compartment?”

The crowds started to get bigger now as more families arrived through the barrier. Harry glanced around, noticing several girls on the platform stared toward their direction before whispering into their hands. Less than three minutes, other boys joined in and gawking toward them. Before it could escalate further, Harry made a decision, tugging on her friend’s hand. “Let’s wait on the train. We can keep an eye for her by watching through the window.”

“Sound good. Let’s go.”

In less than half an hour, the platform became much noisier as more students and their families came through the archway. Inside their compartment, Harry let Hedwig out from her cage. Bruce puffed himself and demanded Leo to do the same. He complied, but not before giving him an exaggerated look.

Leo pulled out his wand and tried a levitating charm on Bruce’s cage so that it stored up on the overhead. He urged Harry to try the spell herself. It was one of the spells they would be learning this year, which taken her a few tries to finally lift Hedwig’s cage in the air and slot it into place. 

Fascinated, they discussed that the space inside the storage spaces must have been enchanted to store more things than it normally could. 

With both their owls stretching their wings on one side of the seats, Bruce tried to get Hedwig's attention with occasionally hoots and flapping of his wings but was ignored. Leo pulled out a paperback copy of _For Whom the Bell Tolls_ by _Ernest Hemingway_, he sat back and started reading. Meanwhile, Harry had sat down by the window with a bag of Bertie Bott’s bean, discreetly watching people on the platform while periodically making comments; 

“Is that a bird on her hat? A real bird?” Harry mused. After seeing an older lady came through the archway with a boy their age. She wore witch’s dress, carrying a bright, red bag, and a hat decorated with some kind of bird.

“I think it’s a vulture. A stuffed one.” Leo replied after a glance out of the window.

“Why would anyone wear a stuffed bird on their head.”

“Maybe it’s a fashion statement or something.” He paused his hand, looking up at her eyes squinting. “Why are you so interested in it? Let me tell you this if you started wearing one, considering our friendship null and void.”

“As if you could stand being away from someone as glorious as me for long.” Harry gave him a mock glare and lifted her nose with faux haughtily. “And just you know, my hat will be made with a salamander, a live one.”

“So, you are telling me you want to set your head on fire?” Deadpan, he said.

“Don’t knock it ‘till you try it!”

They laughed and went back to what they were doing. More and more people filled the platform as time went on. It was five after ten when familiar faces barreling through the archway.

Malcolm Hawke’s tall stature was easy to spot. He had his hand on Aoife’s shoulder as the girl maneuvered the cart through the packed platform. Following them, was a pretty blond woman; Leandra Hawke. Her hands held tight by a pair of younger boy and girl on each side. Instead of being blond, they had dark hair like Mr. Hawke instead. They possibly were the twins; Bethany and Carver, that Aoife had mentioned in her letters.

“She’s here.” Harry alerted Leo before shoved their compartment window open. Poking her upper half of her boy out, she called and wave. “Hey, Aoife! Over here!”

“Hey, Harry!” Aoife bounced and waved back at her, turning to her father. “Dad, can you help me with the trunk?”

“Of course, sweetheart.” Mr. Hawke said and pushed the cart toward their compartment.

“Mommy, Mommy! It’s Hariel Potter!!” The girl—Bethany pulling her mother with one hand, while the other pointed toward her. The boy—Carver gawked at the sight of Harry as well.

“Hush, Bethany. And don’t point at people, honey. You know that’s very rude.” Leandra Hawke chided her daughter in a hushed tone.

“Oh-oh.” Harry winced and folded herself back to her seat, away from the window. But it was too late, the damage was already done. People standing by the platform already noticed where she was. “Bloody hell, now I know what the animals at a zoo feel like!”

Leo snickered at her misfortune, but at least he pulled the window shut and closed the curtain for her. “Maybe we need a plaque for your forehead. Hariel Potter, Girl-Who-Live.”

“I think my scar is enough for that, thanks!” Harry tossed a Bertie Bott’s bean playfully his way which Leo snatched it up with his mouth. The next seconds he coughed loudly.

“Ugh! Pepper flavor!” 

Harry laughed. “That will teach you!”

Just then the compartment door slid open, a trunk levitated through and followed by Mr. Hawke's tall frame holding out a wand. Aoife poked her head out from behind him, she waved. “Hiya, guys!”

“Good morning, Mr. Hawke.” Harry and Leo straightened and greeted their former tutor. They stood up and made room for them.

“Good Morning, Mr. Black, Miss Potter.” The man greeted back. He eyed the owl perching lazily on the opposite seat for a moment. “I hope you still have more room, yes?”

“Oh, yes. Let me clear the seats for you.” Harry went to relocate Hedwig and Bruce from the opposite seats to the pull-table by the window. Both owls protested with low hoots but settle down after Harry gave them more treats. “Glutton, both of you.” She commented with a shake of her head. Harry patted her pet before turned around just in time when Mr. Hawke finished putting Aoife’s trunk into the overhead rack.

“And, you’re all set.” Mr. Hawke said with a flick of his wand.

Aoife beamed and hugged him. “Thanks, Dad!” 

“No problem, sweetheart.” He hugged her back lovingly.

For that moment, Harry felt a little awkward seeing all the displays of family affection. She wasn’t used to seeing it. The Dursleys were all about smothering their son, turning him spoiled rotten. As for the Blacks, while she was sure they loved one another, weren’t overly affectionate. So, she turned away. But just in time to see Leo did the same. The boy possibly felt the same way she did.

As if sensing their discomfort, Mr. Hawke pulled away from her daughter and said. “Why don’t you go say goodbye to your mother and the twins, huh?”

“Okay.” The blond girl said cheerfully, but not before turning to Harry and Leo. “I’ll be back in a jiffy!”

Aoife then skipped out from the compartment to say goodbye to her mother and siblings. Mr. Hawke lingered for a minute longer, look at both of them.

“I’ve never said this before,” said Mr. Hawke. “I know she may look cheerful all the time. But it’s been hard for her to make any long-lasting friendship because of our constant moving. So, I thank you for giving her a chance.”

With that, the man left their compartment to join his family at the platform. They glanced at each other in awkward silence.

Suddenly, the compartment door slid open again. But instead of Aoife, it was a boy with light-colored hair standing by the door. His facial feature showed a perfect mixed of between Asian and Caucasian? His eyes were bright, golden brown. His hair was a shade between lightest brown and almost-blond. His face was almost as pretty as Leo’s. Harry thought to herself that his face looked very familiar, but didn’t remember where she had seen him from.

He looked from Harry to Leo, to their owls, before speaking. “Sorry, do you mind if I join you? I…..sort of lost my compartment.” The boy flushed with embarrassment.

Leo said nothing as he moved to take a seat next to Harry, a book already in his hands. Harry took it as his acceptance and told the boy. “Sure, we have another girl with us. But she’s saying goodbye to her family right now.” She glanced at their owls, Bruce was staring down at the newcomer with his orange eyes, Hedwig ignored everyone and already went back to her nap. “Hope you don’t mind our owls.”

“Oh, it’s fine. And thanks!” The boy looked relieved as he dragged his trunk inside the compartment, or he tried to. Leo glanced at the other boy’s struggle against the weight of his trunk, before looking back at Harry.

They watched him wrestling his trunk inside. Harry suspected the boy might have been a Muggleborn, or at least a Muggle-raised, aside from his Muggle clothes. All pureblood children knew to buy school trunks with feather-light charm already cast on it. If not, then like Aoife, they had someone that could _Locomotor_-ed the heavy trunk for them. This boy’s trunk, however, was brand new. The scratches on it were also fresh. It was a wonder how he stored the trunk the first time, or how he dragged it through the train’s corridor looking for a free compartment. If what he said about his compartment got taken was true.

No longer wanting to watch his struggle anymore, Harry finally said. “Err…. need any help?”

The boy straightened from his hunch; face flushed with embarrassment. “I…um…I can’t ask that of a girl….”

Harry narrowed her eyes, ignoring Leo’s quiet snigger. She flicked her wand out of her arm holster, the other boy startled at the sight of it. “What does my ability to cast a spell have to do with me being a girl?”

“I…didn't….I mean...”

“Calm down, Scarface. He’s just trying to be a gentleman.” Leo closed his book and turned fully to the other boy. Harry looked at the other boy for confirmation and a lifted-eyebrow.

“Yes! I thought you were going to help me lift the trunk yourself.” He said hurriedly, gestured widely with his hands.

“Of course not. I’m going to use magic.”

“Oh, are you an upper-year student? I thought you’re first-years like me.” The boy asked curiously.

“No, we are first-years, same as you.” Leo offered, “We just read ahead of time, and may have practiced a little.”

“Wow, I didn’t know you can do magic outside school!” The boy’s eyes lit up excitedly. “Professor Sprout said we can’t do that.”

“Hmm, well, I wouldn’t promote it. But you can, if you know the loophole for it.”

Harry knew Leo meant their practices under Grimmauld Place’s protection ward. The Black resident was unplottable, even if they detected the use of magic, the Ministry could never find where they were. And the protective enchantments around the resident would interfere with the Trace tracking their wands. Harry and Leo had only taken advantage of the benefits when Lucretia was able to keep eyes on them. She wouldn’t let them cast spell willy-nilly without anyone supervising them.

“Let’s get this over with, the train is probably going to be more crowded soon,” Harry said after glanced over at the corridor. They could hear the more rumbustious students from the next compartment, possibly the upper-years. “Here, held the door open for me, will you? And stayed out of the way. My control is still shaky. I don’t want to drop the trunk on anyone’s foot.”

“Oh, of course!” The boy complied as requested. He moved the side while helping the compartment door open. Leo also scooted away, just in case.

Harry took a deep breath and lifted her wand, remembering the wand movement. “_Wingardium Leviosa!_”

Unlike last time when they stored their owl cages, the trunk lifted at first try. It wobbled dangerously when Harry distractingly cheered at herself. She cleared her throat and gripped her wand to steadily floated the boy’s trunk up to the overhead storage just like she did with Hedwig’s cage. All the while the other two watching; the other boy’s mouth hung opened, face full of awe. Leo just watched, an amused look on his face.

“There,” Harry said once the trunk was securely in place. She slid her wand back into the arm holster.

“That was wicked! Thanks for that!” The boy cheered with a bright smile before he seemed to realized something. “Oh, I forgot to introduce myself, didn’t I? My name is Ry—”

“I’m back!”

His introduction was cut off by Aoife’s arrival when the girl skipped back inside. When she realized there was someone else inside with them, the girl blinked before gasping. “Oh my god! Aren’t you Ryota Kise?!”

Ryota Kise? Why did what name sound familiar? She looked at Leo for confirmation. But the boy didn’t look at her then, his eyes fixed at the other boy, almost knowingly.

“Wait….” Suddenly, something clicked. “Isn’t that the name of the child actor in that Vampire Series?”

“Oh, I have no idea wizarding world watch Muggle TV series!” The boy said cheerfully, not denying the fact.

“I only watch the series before I moved here,” said Aoife. “We used to live in the Muggle neighborhood, so we had to blend in. Watching TV is one of them. But you are really him, aren’t you?”

“Ah yes, that’s me! I’m Ryota Kise! A pleasure to meet you!” He introduced himself. And then he gave them all a beautiful smile, almost commercial. Harry's mouth opened then closed, stunned at the brightness. Oh, Merlin…. Was this what they called a _celebrity aura_?

Harry knew of who Ryota Kise was. She had seen the show he was starring. The boy a rising-star child actor. Because of his unique look; a perfect mixture of Japanese and English, he was starting to be featured on commercials as well.

Aoife cooed a little before introducing herself. “Aoife Hawke! Nice to meet you, too!”

“Leo Black.” Her friend said shortly. But there was no recognition from the other boy. He definitely a Muggleborn.

“Hariel Potter.”

Kise’s eyes went wide before flicked toward the scar on her forehead. “Wait, are you that Girl-Who-Lived?”

“No.” Harry scowled.

“Oh.”

Both Leo and Aoife snickered at her sulking. Kise looked at them, confused. So, the blond girl took pity on him, and waved her hand and said. “Oh, she is. She just doesn’t like being reminded of that.”

“So, she didn’t defeat the most dangerous Dark Lord of the century when she was just a baby?”

Harry sighed. “I was a _toddler_.”

“Well…. When you put it like that, it does sound silly.” The boy scratched his cheek. “Then, what I’ve read isn’t true then?”

“I guess it’s depended on what you’ve read,” Harry crossed her arms. “I’ve never slain a dragon. Or rescued a Muggle royalty. And no, I didn’t stake any vampire. Heck, I’ve lived in a suburban with my Muggle relatives all my life. The most dangerous thing I’ve ever done was almost falling off the high bar after doing a backward giant with one arm grip.”

“It’s a gymnastic skill on the uneven bars.” Leo offered when both Aoife and Kise had black look on their face.

“Ohh….That Muggle’s sport you told me about!” Aoife nodded her head.

“You do gymnastics? I heard it’s very difficult!” Kise looked in awe as he took a seat next to Aoife who sat opposite Harry and Leo. Their owls still perching in between on the pull-out table.

“I…did. I have to take a break because of Hogwarts. Or until I find a new coach that knows about our world.” Harry shrugged nonchalantly, but the pang in her heart still there. 

“Ah, yeah….I, umm….have the same problem, I guess.” Kise grimaced. “The show’s producer had to write my character off because I have to attend Hogwarts, too. My mother wasn’t happy about it. But there’s nothing they can do. My magic was starting to get the media’s attention. So, they have to send me here.”

“Oh, right. I guess that’s tough.” Harry grimaced at his words. Yeah, out-of-control magic in front of the public would be very bad.

“What about you?” Kise asked Aoife who sat next to him. “You sound…very American.” 

“I am.” Aoife nodded with a smile. “My family used to move all over the states because of my Dad’s jobs. But now, he found a permanent job, here. So, we settled down here from now on.”

“What about you?” The boy asked Leo this time. “What’s your story?”

“Me? I’m not that interesting,” said Leo. Harry snorted at that. Aoife giggled behind her hand.

“Your friends seemed to think differently.” Kise mused.

“Well, compart to the Wizarding World’s Heroine, a child actor, and a foreign student. My story is very basic, Kise.” Leo shrugged. “I’m a pureblood, but I wasn’t raised with the family, because of circumstances.”

“Fair enough,” accepted the other boy. “By the way, you can just call me Ryota. I’m not one for formality. And in turn, I will call you by your names!”

The ice-breaking moment soon passed, just in time when the bell rang. The conductor called for all to board. Harry deemed it was safe enough and pulled opened the curtain again, so they could watch the scenery outside. The four of them watched some of the students scurrying around trying to get their trunks and pet cages up on the trains.

“Whoa. That’s a lot of Redheads.” Ryota commented absently.

Harry craned her neck and watched through the window to see a large group of red-haired family that was saying goodbyes on the platform. She counted quickly; The oldest boy already changed into black Hogwarts robes with a shiny red-and-gold badge with a letter _P_ on his chest, A pair of twins looking a few years older than them, another boy who was tall and lanky, a little girl and a middle-aged plump woman who seemed to be ushering them to hurry up. All of them have the same shade of ginger-red hairs. 

“You don’t say…” Aoife looked amazed.

“Oh, that the Weasleys,” Leo said after leaning over Harry to see. “Aunt Lucretia said that one of them is in our year.”

“How do you know who they are?” Ryota asked curiously.

“It’s their hair, not many wizard families had that particular shade. The Bones did have some redheads, but not all of them. The Prewetts were close but on the darker shade.” Leo paused when the other three stared at him, “What?....we are sort of related. Remember that Aunt Lucretia married into the Prewett Family.”

“It’s not that,” Aoife comment with a grin. “This is like the most I’ve seen you talk since we’ve got on the train.”

Leo shrugged nonchalantly, “Well, as I said, we are related.”

“Your house is related to more than have of the British Wizarding families,” Harry said with a grin. “And that’s including me.”

“Please don’t remind me,” Leo retorted playfully. Only to have an elbow in his guts as a reply.

_“Mummy, mummy, Look!” _

Harry heard a little girl shrieked from the platform. And the four of them turn their attention went straight to the source, it was the red-haired girl who stood with the large family—possibly, the Weasleys. The little girl stared eyes wide at their compartment window, finger-pointing toward Harry who sat right by it. _“Mummy, it’s Hariel Potter!!”_

“Ginny, what are you talking about?” They heard the plump mother chastised her youngest. “And it’s rude to point at people!”

“Ugh, not again.” Alarmed, Harry slid away from the window.

“Wow, they weren’t kidding when they said that you are famous,” Ryota commented teasingly. Harry groaned and forced Leo to switch his seat with her for the moment.

Less than fifteen minutes after the final call, the train finally began to move. The train gathered its speed as it moved away from the platform. Shouts of final good-byes and well-wishes could be heard. The speed picked up until houses flashed by from the window. Harry’s heart leaped with excitement. And from the look of the other three sharing the compartment, they were all thinking the same.

**: : : : : :**

Less than fifteen minutes since the train pulled away from the platform, both Hedwig and Bruce became restless. So, Leo and Harry waited until the train moved past the city to the more suburban area before opened their compartment window and let their owls fly free. Both owls would meet them at Hogwarts. Leo wasn’t worried; Bruce had been to Hogwarts before. And he was sure Hedwig was smart enough to find her way to Harry.

The conversation continued on. Mostly, it was Aoife who retold about her moves through the states. Ryota also talked about places he had been because of his job. Both of them talked about their families. Aoife told them about the twins, who were two years younger than them. And would be starting Hogwarts in a few years. Ryota revealed that he was the youngest of four children and the only boy in the family. All of his three sisters were working in the entertainment business, in some manners.

Leo was glad to see that Harry took initiative in making new friends besides himself and Aoife. Ryota Kise was a welcome surprise. Leo could sympathize with the boy’s plight. With him being in the limelight. If his parents hadn’t sent him to a magic school, there was a possibility that he might have been taken away from his family. It was the ‘better safe than sorry’ policy that the British Ministry had adopted for the last decade or so, to preserve the statue of secrecy.

Although because of Hogwarts, the boy’s career in acting might come to an end as a result. But from what he had observed, Ryota was excited to learn magic, too. Hmm, his predicament might be similar to what Harry felt toward gymnastics. But only time could tell.

The train was now speeding past fields full of sheep and cows. Their conversation slowed down as lunch approached. Leo pulled out a large food basket that Misty had packed for him and Harry, to share with the other two. Afterward, they bought themselves some sweets from the trolley. Harry splurged herself on Chocolate Frogs once more.

“Another Dumbledore,” Leo heard her commented. “I had like twelve of him already.”

“Can I have it then? Maybe I can start finally start my own collection,” asked Aoife.

Harry handed her the card. “Have at it.”

“Oh hey, I got Newt Scamander.” Ryota looked at his card. “Wasn’t he one of the authors from our coursebooks.”

“Yeah. _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_. Very nice book, detailed but not too boring.” Leo offered his opinion.

Just then there was a knock on the door before their compartment door slid open. A round-face boy Leo had seen with the old lady with a bird on her hat came in. He looked nervous; his face blotched with tear-stain.

“Sorry,” he said, “But have you seen any toa—”

The boy didn’t finish, however. His eyes caught the sight of the scar on Harry’s forehead.

“You are Hariel Potter!” He squeaked; eyes wide. His voice was loud enough for the people in the corridor to hear. And then the boy’s eyes met with Leo’s. A flick of recognition on his face. The shock turned frightful, he squeaked again. The next thing they knew the door slammed shut, the boy was gone.

“That was….new.” Harry blinked, glancing at him out of reflex. Leo had his suspicion about who the boy was. But he kept his mouth shut and his face blank for now. There were only a few pureblood children who would be afraid of him, or more importantly, of his family.

“What did he want anyway?” Aoife wondered.

“Probably looking for someone or something,” Leo said dismissively, looking down at his wristwatch. “It’s already afternoon. Maybe we should change into our robes soon. We won’t get there until sundown but by then everyone would want to use the loo the change.” He looked up at Harry and Aoife, “Do you want to change in here or go to the loo?”

The girls looked at one another before Aoife said. “We’ll use the Ladies’ room, I’m sure there’s a mirror there.”

“Fine with me.” Harry shrugged and got up.

Leo and Ryota let the girls get their school uniforms and robes out of their trunks before getting theirs out. After the girls left, Leo and Ryota quickly changed out of their clothes into Hogwarts uniforms.

The outer robes were plain black, without any color indication. The same with their inner uniform; plain gray jumpers and black neckties, black pants. Aunt Lucretia said that the house colors would be added later after the sorting, magically. Leo recalled his father’s photographs that theirs were predominately gray and navy-blue. The uniforms might have been updated throughout the years to keep up with Time.

Just as Ryota was checking himself with a compact mirror, while Leo Levitating the boy’s trunk back to the overhead rack, the door was flung open again. The two boys turned around, expecting to see their compartment-mates, but instead was a girl with big, curly, brown hair, she also had her new pristine uniform on. Behind her was the round-face boy they had seen earlier. The girl narrowed her eyes at the levitating trunk before her eyes slid to Leo, she saw something akin to hostile in those pair of eyes.

Hmm…. Did the girl know of him, too? But her coloring wasn’t distinct enough for him to identify. Brown hair, brown eyes, Caucasian. A side of the unique hair texture and her two large front teeth. The girl was quite plain. She did kind of familiar…somehow.

“Can I help you?” Ryota asked helpfully, snapping the girl’s attention to him. The girl's eyes went wide, her face flushed. She seemed to recognize who Ryota was. Hmm, so either a half-blood, or Muggleborn then.

“I….we…” The girl stammered for second before blinking rapidly. She cleared her throat and straightened her robe. Her eyes hardened. “Have you seen a toad? Neville here had wanted to ask you that before you ran him out of your compartment.”

Her tone was full of self-important, borderline bossy. Leo could deal with it; he had dealt with worse. It was what she said that caught his attention. With a lifted-eyebrow, his gazed flicked to the trembling boy behind her. Instead of answering her, Leo turned toward Ryota. “We ran him out?”

“As far as I can recall, he ran out all on his own. We were wondering why he did that.” The half-Japanese boy said sincerely. Instead of placating the girl, she seemed to be angrier. But the boy behind her whispering and pulling at her sleeves.

“Fine. Have you seen any toad then? Neville has lost his. We’re trying to find him.” She gritted her teeth and asked.

“I haven’t seen one,” Ryota said with a shake of his head.

“Neither have I.” Leo added, “Perhaps you should try the Prefects. I’m sure they can summon the toad for you. There’s a spell for that.”

With that, Leo flicked his wand, finally putting Ryota’s trunk back on the rack. The girl eyed his movement with narrowed eyes. as if wanting to comment on something. Before she could, however, the door slid opened again.

This time it was a lanky redhead boy. His face was full of freckles. His tall frame filled in the small doorway. He was as tall as Leo. Unlike their first two visitors, he had not changed into a school uniform. Leo recalled seeing him on the platform with his family, this was one of the Weasleys.

The boy’s eyes swept through the compartment, before scrunching his nose at the big hair girl. Perhaps, they had met before.

“You are here, too? Never mind,” The red-haired boy turned to Leo and squinted at him, possibly trying to match his face to a name. But he gave up after a few seconds. Instead, he asked, “My brothers said that Hariel Potter is in this compartment, is it true?”

Neville mumbled something from behind the girl, she gasped. “Really?! You’ve seen her in here?”

“You’ve seen her, mate?!” The redhead asked excitedly. “It’s true then! Where is she?”

Ryota blinked at their reactions, he said hesitantly “Hariel went to change into her uniform.”

“Wicked! I’ll wait for her then!” The red-head announced excitedly. Ignoring Leo’s questioning look or Ryota’s apprehensive one, he plopped down on the empty seat. The toadless boy Neville and his friend didn’t make a move to leave either.

Their compartment door slid open yet again. And it still wasn’t Harry or Aoife who came in. Leo was starting to get annoyed.

Three boys entered. Leo recognized the middle one between the other two all too well. It was none other than Draco Malfoy.

“I’ve heard that Hariel Potter was in this compartment,” The pale, blond boy drawn, his grey eyes flicked around the compartment. Before stopping at Leo. A sneer painted his face. “I thought they’re having me on. But seeing _you_ here, Black. I guess they can’t be far off.”

“You are a Black!?” the Weasley boy gasped,

Ignoring the redhead and a nervous Ryota who slid closer to him, Leo’s mouth curled into a practiced smirk, he said. “Ah…. isn’t it my illustrious cousin, Draco Malfoy?”

“Please, as if I wanted to be related to a mutt like you,” Malfoy sneered deepened, “Raised by a filthy squib, did you? Are you sure you aren’t one, yourself?” His eyes flicked to Neville who curled into himself behind the girl, and the red-head sitting not too far away. “Considering the companion you keep,”

“Well, you don’t have to.” Leo, still smiling, said airily. “All you have to do is have your mother _denounced _your and her connection to House of Black. I, as the current Heir of the house, shall accept it. But she won’t do it, will she? Not until her husband gets his grubby hands on my money.”

Malfoy hissed, “You little—”

Before he could finish, the door flung open one more time. This was starting to get on Leo’s nerves.

“What are you all doing in my compartment?”

The familiar voice demanded, all the occupants inside turned to see Hariel Potter standing there, a scowl on her face, already in her Hogwarts uniform. Her famous scar stark on her bare forehead. Aoife peeked out from behind her.

Everyone but Leo and Ryota gaped at her sudden appearance, only served to annoy the girl even more.

“Well??”

**: : : : : :**

Taking Leo’s suggestion was good in theory. In practice, however, there were already lines for the bathrooms. She and Aoife had to walk up toward the front of the train for ones with fewer people. All the while, ignoring the pointing fingers and whispering that followed her.

Finally, after changing out of her Muggle clothes into Hogwarts robes and uniforms, Harry slashed water on her face and repined her hair. Her crown braided wasn’t too messy, so she left them alone. Aoife combed her short hair with her fingers. They checked themselves in the mirror one more time before leaving the bathroom.

“You’re sure you want your forehead exposed like that?” Aoife asked as they walked through the corridor.

“Not really,” Harry shrugged. “They’re going to be staring at me anyway. This way they can’t ask me to show it.”

“I don’t think anyone with common sense would do that.” Her blond friend joked.

Harry snorted unlady-like. “You would be surprised how much common senses these people lac—ah!”

Before she could finish, someone slammed into her shoulder, hard enough she staggered sideways into Aoife. The other girl yelped as she hit the corridor windows.

“Watch where you’re walking, Firsties!” An older boy with dark hair sneered down at them. His body was built like a tank. The boy was already in school robe; green and silver necktie and trims indicated that he was from Slytherin.

Irritated, Harry narrowed her eyes into a slit. “You’re the one walking into us.”

“What did you say?” The older boy who was about to strut away, swung back, and looked at her. Harry lifted her chin stubbornly, moving herself to stand in front of Aoife. When he had a good look at her, his eyes flicked to the scar on her forehead. His scowl twisted into a smirk.

“Well, well. Aren’t you the Girl-Who-Lived?” The older boy said with a loud voice. The students who loitering in the corridor turned their attention to them, even some watched from their compartments. “I am Cassius Warrington, third-year. And you’re Hariel Potter.”

Refusing to be intimidated, Dudley wasn’t as big as him. But Uncle Vernon sure did. And she wasn’t afraid of the man any longer. She refused to be cowed, to anyone.

“I am.” She said calmly. “Does that make it any easier for you to apologize?”

“Why would I apologize to a pipsqueak like you, huh?” the boy mocked.

“You should,” Harry said evenly. “It’s not our fault you can’t walk in a straight line.”

Warrington blinked, clearly didn’t catch the underlining insult. Not until the other students started to snicker at him anyway. The boy raised himself to his full height before slammed one hand on the window, blocking Harry’s way.

“You’d better watch what you’re saying, Potter.” The older boy growled at her dangerously. “You won’t want that pretty face to scar even more, will you?”

The boy reached for her, Harry recoiled in anger and pushed his grabby hand away. A wand already flicked out down her arm. She pointed it at the older boy's throat. It was a move she had practiced for weeks to perfect.

_“Most upper-years won’t expect you to fight back, much less pulling out a wand.” Madam Lucretia said after demonstrating the move of flicking the wand out of an arm holster into a combat stance. _

_“We still don’t know any combat spells though?” Harry commented hesitantly, glancing at her friend who trying out the flick himself._

_“But they don’t know that, do they? For all they know, you’ve already slain a dragon, wrestled a werewolf, or fought a troll. You are, after all, the Girl-Who-Lived.”_

_She frowned at her words. But the boy next to her suddenly spoke, “It’s bluffing, isn’t it?”_

_The older witch smiled with all her teeth, “Exactly. People will always see what they want to see. This is the art of using their perception against them or part of it. Liking it or not, they will always see the scar on your forehead first. The same goes for you, Leonis.” She turned to Leo. “People will always assume you are from one of the darkest family, despite practicing the arts or not. Use that to your advantage.”_

_“So, what happened if they don’t buy our bluff?”_

_“Then you show them what you’ve made of,” The older witch smiled again. “Do not worry, dears. I may be a healer. But I do know where to hit to make it hurt the most even with first year’s spells. Now, start again from the top, both of you.”_

Harry lifted her chin and jabbed her wand forward. The incantation of a knockback jinx readied on her tongue. It was one the first-year spells she could cast with more hits than misses. Everyone watching gasped and held their breath. Funny, did anyone ever think to help her at all? 

“W--what?” The boy looking down at her pointed wand and laughed nervously. “Y—You think I’m scared of a first-year, with a wand?”

False bravado or not, the older boy reached for her again. Only to stop mid-motion when the two other wands were jabbed into his back.

“How about the wands—” said an unfamiliar voice,

“—of two third-years, Warrington?” finished the other.

Harry flicked her eyes behind the older boy. It was a pair of redhead twins she saw with their family earlier on the platform. They still hadn’t changed into school robes, spotting in jumpers and pants. They weren’t as big as the older boy—Warrington, but they were almost at the same height. Both had mischievous grins on their faces.

“Weasleys.” Warrington hissed. He glared at the twins before glanced back at Harry, finger pointing at her. “I won’t forget this, Potter.”

“Doubt it.” Harry gave him a shark grin, full of teeth, wand still pointed forward without faltering. Warrington hissed one last time and backing away, but not before shooting glares at the Weasley twins.

Everyone around them let out their breath. Harry finally realized how many of them had gathered. One of the twins turned around and started waving people away.

“Alright, folks! The show’s over!”

“Back to your compartment, you lots!” The other one shooed them all away. There were some protests but most of them dispersed when the twins threatened to call for a Prefect.

“Hariel! Are you okay?!” Aoife asked hurriedly as soon as Warrington walked away out of their earshot. “You should have left him alone.”

Flicked her wand back into the holster, she shrugged. “I’m fine. And yeah, I could. But I didn’t.” Her temper wouldn’t allow her to just walk away. Leo was going to be on her case for hours if he knew about this! UGH.

Suddenly remembered her rescuers were still here, she turned to the twins who watched them with curious eyes. “Thank you for your help.”

“Always a pleasure—” The first twins started,

“—to be at the ladies’ service.” The other twins finished. They bowed with a flourish. Aoife flushed and giggled at their antics. Harry grinned and finally, truly looked at them. 

Flaming-red hair, bright blue eyes. They were identical downright to the freckles on their noses. Their smile faltered when their eyes noticed the scar on her head.

“Blimey,” One of the twins pointed at her forehead.

“You’re _Her_,” said the other twins. “Aren’t you?”

“Her who?” sighed Harry. This was starting to get old real quick. Even Aoife was starting to snicker behind her hands.

“_Hariel Potter_,” chorused the twins.

“Yep. And you are Weasley and Weasley.” Deadpanned, Harry replied.

Quickly she grabbed Aoife’s hand and pulled her friend away. With the last wave of her hand, she left the twins there, still gawking at her retreating back. Students who had been indiscreetly spying on their exchanges dove out of her way as she strode by.

“You are like, more famous than Ryota here!” Aoife laughed as they made their way back. Harry rolled her eyes.

“People’s reactions are becoming predictable. Truthfully, the boy that came into our compartment earlier was quite refreshing.” Harry admitted. “I honestly never have anyone ran away from me before.”

Aoife laughed and shook her head. “I don’t think he ran away because of you, though.”

“Yeah, I noticed.”

“Leo can be quite intimidating at first glance.”

“I think it’s his name that makes things worse. Or the morning edition of today’s Daily Prophet.”

“At least, you look nice in that dress.” Her friend teased.

Harry rolled her eyes again and said, “Finally!” when their compartment door came into view. They were gone less than half an hour, but for Harry, it felt longer than that.

Harry flung the door open, hoping to sit down and never get up again until the train reached its destination. Instead of just Leo and her new pal Ryota, their compartment was filled to the brim with people.

A red-head boy was sitting on Aoife’s seat, from the shade of red hair and freckles on his face, must be another Weasley. Next, standing in one corner; a girl with big curly hair, her face radiated displeasure and the round-face boy from earlier hiding behind her. Her two friends were standing up, ram-rod straight. Leo, in front of Ryota. Opposite them were three boys, standing between the two bigger ones, was none other than Draco Malfoy.

“What are you all doing in my compartment?” Harry asked icily. All eyes swung toward them at once. Everyone but Leo and Ryota gawked at her. The red-head absently pointed at her scar. The girl looked shocked. Even Draco Malfoy who already met her twice (sort of) had his mouth hung open.

She ignored Aoife who was trying to peek from behind her. Narrowing her eyes further, she crossed her arms. “Well??” 

It was Malfoy who cleared his throat first and straighten his—no doubt, silk robe. The boy said smoothly, “So, you are really h—”

“It’s _YOU_!! You are that girl from Grimsditch!!” The girl with the big 80’s hair shrieked, cutting whatever the Malfoy boy wanted to say.

Harry blinked owlishly, before looking toward her. “Uhh…. Have we met?”

Leo coughed and pulled Harry toward where they stood. He leaned in and whispered to her. “I believe she was one of your roommates at Summer Camp. I think her name’s Harmony or something.”

“Oh. Umm…Hi?” Harry waved lamely.

“Hi!? That’s all you have to say?!” The girl’s nostrils flared. “And someone like YOU is the Girl-Who-Lived?! After all the things I’ve read in the books, she can’t be you!”

“Excuse me? Someone like _me_?” Harry’s temper flared back up again. She narrowed her eyes. “Maybe all the books you’ve read about me were lying then. Just so you know, I don’t recall giving anyone an interview, much less gave them rights to write about my life.”

“But it can’t be true!” said the girl, she was flushing red.

The round-boy from behind her kept pulling at her robe. “Come on, let’s just go, Hermione. I’m sure Trevor isn’t here.”

“You should listen to your friend, Harmony,” Harry added.

“It’s Hermione. Hermione Granger!” The girl flushed deeper but at least she was composed enough not to scream like a lunatic. She sniffed and lifted her chin. “Come on, Neville. Let’s find a Prefect. So, he can help with Trevor.”

“Okay,” The round-faced boy—Neville nodded and followed her out, but not before looking back at them apologetically.

Someone cleared their throat again. Pulling Harry’s attention back to the remaining occupants in the compartment. She turned to find Malfoy puffing himself up again. The boy said haughtily, “Now that the Muggleborn and the squib are gone, as I was sayi—”

“Blimey! That was wicked!” gushed the redhead boy. Malfoy was, once again, steamrolled from whatever he wanted to say. Harry could feel Leo coughed to hide his laugh from behind her. Malfoy was seething, but the red-haired boy hardly noticed it. Instead, the boy kept talking. “She’s a bit bossy, isn’t she? She came into our compartment when I was doing this spell on Scabbers, he’s my pet rat. Anyway, she was commenting on how it wasn’t the right spell, blah blah blah. A know-it-all, if I’ve ever seen one.”

“Sound very grating,” Harry commented amusedly. “I’m sorry, but who are you?”

“Oh. I’m Ron. Ron Weasley.” The boy offered his hand.

“Hariel Potter,” Harry took his hand and shook it politely, “Another Weasley, huh? I think I’ve met your brothers in the corridor earlier.”

“Um…yeah. I have brothers. A lot of brothers….” Ron Weasley still holding her hand, shaking it. There was a dreamy look and dopey smile on his face. 

She could hear Aoife and Ryota sniggering in the background. Leo just stood there with an amused look on his face. Harry scowled a little before tugging her hand back. “Uh. My hand, do you mind?”

“Wha—oh! Um, yeah sure.” Weasley flushed deep red as he quickly let go of her hand. “Well, see you later then! Hope we’re in the same house!”

The boy quickly retreated and was soon out of their compartment.

“Finally, all the riffraff is gone,” Malfoy said testily. There was a flush of color on the boy’s pale cheek. He must have been seething inside. For the third time, he puffed himself up between the two bigger boys. His pale eyes raked over her before stopping at the lightning scar. She didn’t like that; it was like he was appraising her worth. Leo shifted closer to her.

After a few minutes, the boy spoke again. “So, it is true. You’re Hariel Potter.”

“I am,” Harry replied, returned the appraising look back to him. “And you must be Leo’s cousin, I’ve heard so much about. Darko, is it?”

“It’s _Draco_. Draco Malfoy.” The boy corrected. Is that a twitch she saw?

“Oh, my apology! I’m not good with names, you see?” Harry lied with obviously fake giggled. Her eyes went to the two large boulders standing silently behind Malfoy. “And who are these….” Gorillas “…. gentlemen?” 

“Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle.” said the boy carelessly. The two goons grunted along.

“Charmed,” Harry said just as dismissive. “So, what are you here for?”

“Just want to offer you an opportunity,” Malfoy’s eyes flicked around the compartment again before a sneer formed on his pointy pale face. “You don’t want to go and make friends with the wrong sorts, Potter. Some people are much better than others.”

“Oh? And what are these _wrong_ sorts you talking about?” Harry asked, her eyes narrowed, all the pretended-pleasantry vanished.

“You’ll soon find out that some wizard families, produced more disappointments than others.” The pale boy nodded toward Leo whose face blanked than before. “Like Black here, the rumor has it, he’s nothing but a _squib_. It’s a wonder why they even invited you to this school.”

Crabbed and Goyle sniggered. Ryota just looked confused, he possibly didn’t know yet, what a squib was. On the other hand, Aoife gasped in outrage.

With single lifted-eyebrow, Leo said calmly. “You mean the rumor that _your father_ started?”

Malfoy snarled, “How dare you slander my fath—”

“What’s going on here?!” A new voice called out from the corridor. All of them turned to see, yet another older red-haired boy. He seemed to be the oldest from the bunch they had seen earlier. There was a red and gold with a letter _P_ pin on his school robe. Behind him, several students gathered; some older and some looked the same age as them. All pooled around outside their compartment’s corridor, no doubt to watch and gawk at Harry.

“Nothing you need to concern yourself with, Weasley.” Malfoy curled his lips and glared at the taller boy.

The older boy’s face became hardened. “You’ll do well remember who you are talking to, _Malfoy_. I can give you detention before you can finish the word Hogwarts.”

Malfoy’s eyes flickered to the badge on the older boy’s chest, he scoffed but instead of saying anything further Malfoy turned back to Harry.

“What do you say?” said Malfoy, with a condescending smile on his face, holding out his hand. “I can help you, Potter.”

For a long minute, no one said anything as Harry stared at the offered hand. Not at Malfoy’s goons, not Aoife, or Ryota Not even the older Weasley and the crowds gathered behind her. Everyone waited with bated breath.

Harry’s green eyes left Malfoy’s hand to Leo’s grey ones before she turned to the pale boy again. “I think I can tell who the wrong sorts are for myself, thanks,” she said coolly.

Draco Malfoy didn’t go red, but a pink tinge appeared on his pale cheeks.

“I’d be careful if I were you, Potter,” the boy said slowly. “Unless you’re a bit politer you’ll go the same way as your parents. They didn’t know what was good for them, either. You hang around with this squib-raised blood-traitor, or that Hagrid, not to mention these Muggleborns, and it’ll rub off on you.”

The crowds gasped and whispering spread like wildfire.

“That’s it, Malfoy! Go back to your carriage--” Weasley said with a stern voice.

Ignoring the older Weasley, Harry stepped in front of her long-time friend. She knew better than anyone Leo needed no protecting, but this wasn’t about that. It was about _posturing_. Also, the boy dared brought up her parents. It was a fair game.

“Is that supposed to scare me?” Harry said with a shark-like smile. “You think after surviving Voldemort—” Everyone around them included Malfoy and his goons, gasped loudly. “—I would be scared of your little threats?” She crossed her arms defensively.

The boy turned even pinker than before. “Oh, you’re going to fight us, are you? Isn’t it embarrassing, Black, that a girl has to stand up for you?”

“Embarrassed? Not even a little bit. I’ll let you know that girl can break your face, Malfoy.” Nonplussed, Leo smirked knowingly. “I’ve seen she beat kids bigger and meaner than your bodyguards. I’ll heed her warning if I were you. But then again, you’re welcome to try.”

“I don’t need a wand to break your bones, Nancy Boy. Your bodyguards don’t scare me. Extra fat on their bones won’t help if I know where to hit. And believe me, I do.” For a better effect, Harry started cracking her knuckles slowly.

Malfoy’s eyes swung back toward her again. His face almost red now, he looked like he wanted to say something. Both Crabbed and Goyle just gaped openly at her.

“I said, That’s it!” Weasley insinuated himself into the confrontation again. This time though he pulled all three boys out of the compartment himself. Crabbed and Goyle might be big but the red-haired boy was older and taller, in less than a minute all three of them were out in the corridor among the gathering crowds. “Go back to your compartment and stay there, all three of you. Don’t think I can’t take points from you yet because you haven’t been sorted. I’ll let your future Head of the House know about this myself if I have to!”

“Get your filthy hands off me, Weasley!” Malfoy slapped the older boy’s hand away from this body. He swung his eyes back toward Harry again, the boy snarled. “Don’t think this is the end, Potter! And you!” this time his gaze snapped toward Leo, finger pointing. “Wait until my father hears about how Hogwarts had sung so low that they’ve accepted a squib like you into this school!”

“Ohhhhh, Scawieeee.” Harry jeered. “Hear that, Leo? Ickle Dwaco is going to _tell_ on us to his Father!”

“Blimey! What shall I do?! I’m shaking in me boots!” Leo exclaimed, putting a hand on his forehead and staggered backward dramatically, but his face was completely deadpan. Ryota and Aoife laughed at his over-acting. The crowds in the corridor snickered and laughed at his exaggeration.

Suddenly, she dropped all the humorous acts, her green eyes turned cold and her face hardened. Her gaze fixed on the pale boy standing behind his two goons in the corridor. “I’ve faced someone bigger and meaner than you. I’m not scared of you, Malfoy. So, you can sod right off.”

Loud murmurs spread among the mobs as Harry and Malfoy glared at each other.

“Hmph! Let’s go, Crabbe, Goyle. Any longer and the filth will be contagious!” Malfoy sneered for the last time before stomped away. The crowds parted for the pale boy and his goons. Harry let out a shaky breath and turned back to her friend who plopped back down in his seat, his face so blank it was like nothing had happened.

“All right, folks. The show’s over! Back to your compartments all of you!” Weasley declared to the mobs in the corridor. There were loud exclaims in disappointment but all wisely scattered. The tall boy turned back to the four of them.

“That was a foolish thing to do, provoking Malfoy Kid like that.” The redhead chastised. “I know it’s going to be troubled this year when I’ve heard he’ll be starting Hogwarts. I guess it’s not just him, is it?” His brown eyes flickered from Leo to Harry before he cleared his throat. “Anyway, My name’s Percy Weasley. Gryffindor Prefect. An Honor to meet you, Miss Potter.”

Newly introduced Percy Weasley puffed himself up and offered his hand to her. Harry extended hers and shook it. “Hariel Potter. And thanks for trying to help.”

“Not a problem. If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll end up in the same house. My younger brother is also starting this year, I honestly have no idea what House he’ll end up.” continued Percy, ignoring everyone else in the compartment. “Just take this as a friendly warning. Try to stay out of trouble.”

With that, Percy Weasley pivoted and left. Leaving all four of them to blink at each other.

“That was….” Ryota started as they all took their seats. A smile bloomed on his face. “…Even better than Prime Time TV series! Man, I wish I had some popcorns!”

“You said it!” Aoife chimed in with a laugh.

“Well, at least someone is entertained.” Harry joke dryly before turning to her friend, “Are you alright?”

Leo gave her a puzzled look, “You are the one in trouble, but you are asking me that?”

Harry just shrugged, she leaned back in her seat. “I can believe you are related to that prat.”

“One thing I don’t get it though,” Ryota said, breaking open a new back of Bertie Botts. He glanced at Leo for a second. “This might sound insensitive, but What is a squib?”

“Ah,” Leo let out a deep breath.

Ryota looked guilty, “Sorry if I offended you.”

The boy waved his hand, “No. it’s fine. You’re a Muggleborn unless you read a lot of books, you wouldn’t know what a squib is.” He paused as if to find the right words to explain. “A squib is like a Muggleborn but in reverse. They don’t have enough magic in them to cast spells.”

“So, like a Muggleborn from a wizarding family?” Ryota took a guess. And Leo nodded. “But why did that boy say you were one?”

Leo took a deep breath and exhaled before answering. “Well, let’s just say, in his quest to discredit me as the heir to the house, Malfoy Senior started the rumors of me being one. It didn’t help that my guardian at the time is also a squib.” 

“Sabotage, yikes.” Ryota grimaced before looked toward Harry. “I know that Girl-Who-Lived moniker is like a big deal in this world, but those reactions from the crowds earlier are a bit worrying, even coming from someone like me.”

Defiantly, Harry shrugged. “It’s not like we go looking for trouble--”

“--Trouble usually find you anyway.” Leo finished for her.

The two friends looked at one another and sniggered. “But you are right, that was it was a bit much. Did you see how they openly gawking on me earlier? Animals in the zoo would probably feel less exposed.”

They were a bit more extreme than they had anticipated.

Aoife added her thoughts, “It seems positive, for now. But you do know this kind of limelight is going to come back and bite you in the bum sooner or later, right? There are bound to be people who want to use that, use you. And don’t get me to start on jealousy…”

“I agree, and believe me, I’d know.” Ryota chimed in.

“I know.” Harry sighed.

“There’ll be unrealistic expectation--”

“From the disappointed look that Granger girl gave me earlier, I think that it is there already.”

“And there’ll be some who wish for you to stumble and fall. You know what the masses love more than an Idol--”

“Yes, I do. A fallen one.” Harry grimaced. “But you know that I can’t be anyone but myself. Fame won’t change who I am.”

“Hariel, you’re like a child actor!” Aoife stressed, before looking at Ryota. “No offense to you, my dude.”

“None taken.” The boy replied easily.

“But you know what I mean right?” The blond girl continued, “Too many hours of works, not getting paid enough. Too much fame than they know what to do with it. You either end up an Alcoholic before 18 and flashed your private bits to paparazzi on your drunken night parties, or you kept working and won a few Oscars.”

Leo joined in by holding out two hands in the air. He lifted the left one. “Lindsay Lohan,” then he did the right, “or Jodie Foster.”

“I don’t want to be either!” Harry gave him a mock-glare. “I just want to be me and no one else.”

“We are just saying, sometimes, you might not have a choice but to change, Harry,” Leo said gently. “Remember, sometimes, we need to adapt to survive, yes?”

“Don’t worry! You’ll have me!” Ryota offered cheerfully. “I will teach you all you need to know about being in the limelight!”

“And me! I can be your manager!” Aoife chimed in helpfully. “I will take care of all your gigs and appearances in the public! Your appointment too!”

Harry rolled her eyes upward. She threw her hands up. “Ugh! Fine! I gave up.” She grouched as her friends snickered. A warmness blooming in her heart. She pretended not to see the little smirk on Leo’s smug face.

**: : : : : :**  
  


The afternoon followed without any more incidents. Somewhere around two, there was a great chattering outside the corridor. The trolley-lady was making her round once more. The four of them decided to stock their sweet catches for school with more than a dozen of Chocolate Frogs, a few boxes of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, several boxes of Drooble’s Gums.

Fifteen minutes later, the elderly witch left with her carts of sweets, but the crowds outside remained.

It seemed the words had spread of Hariel Potter’s compartment. A great many students, both older and around their age came and stopped outside their compartment. Harry recognized the redhead twins and his younger brother from earlier. There were loud giggles and several gasps but so far, no one had come into their compartment again.

She’d bet her newly purchased sweets that somehow that Malfoy boy was the one telling everyone else where Harry was out of spite of being chased off. But it could have easily been the Weasley boys. Harry’s relaxed face starting to slide off again. Leo noticed this and distracted her by shoving the whole Chocolate Frog in her mouth. she sputtered and in turn, shoved a handful of Bertie Bott’s Beans into his.

Their two new seatmates gave Harry a sympathetic look after noticed the crowds outside but sensibly left the issue alone as well as ignored the giggling and gawking. The mobs persisted for another hour before an older boy in Hogwarts robe with blue trimming came and dispersed the crowds.

The older boy gave the four of them a long look once everyone was gone. Harry spotted a badge on his chest, but different from the one Percy had on. His were in bronze and blue like the color of his necktie with the words ‘Head Boy’ etched on it. The older boy nodded at them politely and departed without coming inside their compartment.

The rest of the trip became quite peaceful after that. No one else came to gawk at Harry again. The four of them kept conversation neutral, no talking about Harry’s scar or her so-called heroic deeds even just for jokes. No one mentioning blood prejudiced topics. Aoife had tried to introduce Ryota to Quidditch and the American equivalence— Quodpot. Although the boy wasn’t very excited about flying on brooms or Quidditch. He had insisted he was better off with his feet firmly on the ground.

The conversation shifted again when Aoife mentioned the attempted robbery at Gringotts, the story that the Daily Prophet had been printing about for the last month; which funnily enough happened on the same day that Harry visited Diagon Alley the first time with Hagrid. Apparently, it was one of the high-security vaults, which was already scandalous in itself. Speculations said it must have been a work of some dark wizards. Although nothing inside had been stolen, possibly because the said vault was empty or the items had been moved beforehand.

Leo and Harry glanced at each other all the while Aoife had been telling the tales. Her friend shook his head, telling her that they would chat about it later when it was only just them. How did they miss this topic when Madam Callisto had a subscription with the Daily Prophet?

Outside, the sun had almost touched the horizon and the sunny sky began to bleed into orange shades when Percy Weasley appeared again.

“I see all of you are already changed into your robes. I just want to let you know that you all have about half an hour until we reach our final stop at Hogsmeade Station.” He said stiffly before bristly walked away.

They started cleaning up, putting away the scattered sweets and books inside their trunks. By the time they were done, it was already getting dark outside as Harry peering out of the window. The mountains and forests could be seen under a deep purple sky. The train seemed to be slowing down as well.

A voice, which she speculated as either the driver or conductor, echoed through the train: “We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes’ time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately.” 

For the first time, for the entire trip, Aoife sat fidgeting in her seat, hands wringing together. Ryota became paler and paler as the train got slower, by the time it came to a stop, his face was completely white. Harry wasn’t in much better shape than the other boy, her green eyes widened as she tried to center herself as if she was about to perform one of her routines. Leo was the only one composed enough, the boy didn’t even fidget!

When the train finally came to a stop, the four of them dazedly joined the thronging crowd in the corridor. Everyone pushed their way toward the door and before they knew it, Harry was out on to a tiny, dark platform. Cold night air dropped down around their shivering forms. Several lamps were lit to light the ways for students. But one lamp floating over the heads of the students, and then a thickly accented voice called out: “Firs’ years! Firs’ years over here!” 

Giant of a man with a face full of beard held the lamp out and waved his hand toward one side of the platform.

“That’s Hagrid!” Harry whispered into her friends, she grabbed Leo’s hand and they were off. Ryota and Aoife followed without saying much else.

“All right there, Harry?” Hagrid beamed cheerfully at her.

“Never better!” Harry replied. Hagrid nodded with a big smile before lifting the light up again.

“Any more firs’ years?” Once he made sure that was everyone, he spoke again. “Right then, follow me. Mind yer steps! This way, firs’ years!”

Harry’s eyes drifted around her as she let Leo led her by hand along the steep and narrow path. Except for several dozen first-years milling along with them, she could make out nothing on the side of the road but dark silhouettes of tall trees. Nobody spoke out loud, all conversations were at minimal and in a hushed tone. Only Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad sniffed once or twice.

Hagrid called over his shoulder. “Yeh’ll get yer firs’ sight o’ Hogwarts in a sec, jus’ round this bend here.”

Assorted voices exclaimed loudly. “Oooohhh!!”

Harry’s jaw dropped as the narrow path suddenly opened onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its window sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers. It reminded her of a much cozy version of Dragonstone from Games of Thrones, or the less grand but still impressive of Minas Tirith from Lord of the Rings.

She tightened the grip on Leo’s hand and whispered to him. “Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.” 

Leo chuckled and tugged on her hand, he whispered back. “I thought you said that movie was rubbish.”

Clicking her tongue. “Dammit. Can you just…bark or something, and let me savor this feeling?”

“Woof!” Leo replied, deadpan. A few first years who stood nearby including Ryota snickered at the reference while others were too absorbed in their own first impression of Hogwarts or missed it completely.

“No more’n four to a boat!” Hagrid announced and pointed to a fleet of boats sitting by the shore. Harry had all but dragged Leo toward one waiting in the water. She noticed no paddles or oars for them inside. Ryota eyed the boat warily for a few minutes, Aoife maneuvered him into the same boat as them before the boy could protest. Once all were accounted for in their boats, Hagrid shouted ‘FORWARD!’ and they were off.

The fleet of boats moved off the shore all at once, all on their own, possibly by magic, gliding across the great lake. Dark water reflecting both starry skies above and the lamps on each boat. In distant, the imposing castle awaiting their arrival over the cliff where it sat patiently.

Hagrid shouted for everyone to duck their heads down once they reached the small opening of the cliff, curtaining by ivy. Everyone whispering about as the little boats moved through the dark tunnel, which taking them underneath the castle until they reached an underground harbor where everyone clambered out.

“Oy,” Hagrid called out to someone, who happened to be Neville. “Is this yer toad?”

“Trevor! When did you get away?!” Neville gasped and took the croaking toad away from the half-giant. He ducked his red face and hurried back to where Hermione stood waiting as a number of students snickering at his misfortune.

The rock passageway led them to a grassy opening right in the shadow of the castle. Hagrid gestured for them to continue upon the long flights of stone steps before came to a stop in front of a grand oak door. 

“Everyone still ‘ere?” Hagrid asked one last time, “right ‘en!”

He raised his gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door. It swung open at once, revealing A tall, black-haired witch in all her witchy glory. She wore long emerald robes completed with a pointed hat that crooked to one side. Her stern expression and air of authority radiated in waves, and Harry’s first thought was that this was not someone to cross. 

“The firs’ years, Professor McGonagall,” said Hagrid.

“Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here.” She replied and pulled the door wider, revealing yet another large corridor. All first years obediently followed her in with hushed whispers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ps :: A bit shorter than the rest of the chapters. But the time didn't move too much. This is a combination of me having injured myself at work and the contents in the chapter. While I have time off from work to write, I have to do it through pain in my left foot. But I'll do my best with what I can. By the time I'm posting this, I hope I can at least walk around a little.
> 
> The next chapter will be introducing more and more characters, both canon and non-canon! Until then, please stay safe. Or you can say hello or follow my writing progress on my twitter - astachan14


	8. Year 1 Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hoggy Warty Hogwarts, Teach us something please.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Disclaimer ::** Same as Chapter 1.
> 
> **Warning ::** Fem!Harry. Crossover. AU. No Beta, we die like men. My grammar is as bad as house-elf. This is not a fix-it story, something will be better and something will be worst. This fic is also cross-posted on FF(dot)net.
> 
> **A/N ::** Oh man, I can't believe we are at Chapter 8 already?! Thank you everyone for sticking with me so far!
> 
> This chapter is going to introducing a bunch of new characters. I took a creative license and changed Harry's canon years from 40 students to 60. So, each house will have about 14-16 students. The reason, because why not? I want some variety from the canon rehash anyway. Not all new characters will be important, some just background characters, so don't worry if you don't remember them all.
> 
> Without further ado;

**Chapter 8 :: Year 1 Part 3  
Hoggy Warty Hogwarts.**

The first years all followed Professor McGonagall inside and up a magnificent marble staircase to the upper floors. The only reason Harry had not stood there gaping at everything was because of Leo's hand pulling her along. Professor McGonagall didn't let them stop and linger in the entrance hall, where the droning of hundred voices could be heard from the doorway to the right—must be the rest of the school, Harry thought to herself, instead they walked through the connecting chamber. After a few minutes, finally, they came to a stop inside a tiny chamber off the hall where the students crowded in, standing rather close to one another than anyone would have wanted. Harry grimaced when she felt someone's breath on the back of her neck. But she could not even move too far away even if she wanted to. Leo eyed her sympathetically, sharing the uncomfortable feeling of being too close to some strangers.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," announced the stern-looking witch. "I am Professor Minerva McGonagall. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your Houses."

Harry listened as the professor explained how the house each student was sorted into would become something akin to family, they would have classes together, slept in the same dormitory, as well as spending their free time in the same common room for the next seven years.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each House has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. And contrary to popular belief and some preconceived notions, no house is better than the others,"

There was a loud scoff coming from somewhere to her right, Harry barely had to turn around to see that it was none other than Malfoy who did.

"Something you want to add, Mister Malfoy? Oh yes, I know who you are, I taught your _father_ after all. Or we can get back to the introduction?" Professor McGonagall asked the boy pointedly. A smirk slid off his face immediately.

"No, ma'am." Malfoy gritted out forcefully.

"I thought not, now…where was I before I was rudely interrupted, Ah yes…" All the while, Harry forced herself not to smirk at the pale boy, the older witch then further described how successful triumphs would earn house points and any rule-breaking would lose them. Whichever house with the highest scores would be awarded the House Cup by the end of the year.

Neville, who stood nearby, visibly gulped. While Granger's eyes sparkled as if she'd found her lifelong goal. Ryota was biting his bottom lip nervously. Leo was looking blankly at something Harry could not see.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." She gazed through the square specs at Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear before moved on Ron Weasley's soot-smudged nose. "I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait here, _quietly_."

As soon as she left the chamber, the hushed whispers exploded among the students.

Harry let go of her friend's hand and tried to re-pin her bang, and tucking the strayed hair escaping from her messy crown braided behind her ears. Ryota pulled out his compact mirror to check his perfect teeth. Aoife hand-combed her hair one more. Leo did nothing but straightened his crooked necktie.

Once she was done, Harry took the opportunity to look at everyone around her. Leo was the tallest out of their age group so far. Some of the children eyed him with apprehension, while some just glared openly at him. Weasley was the second tallest with his lanky build and long legs. Although the black boy standing next to him came close to him in height. The tallest of the girls was one with strawberry blonde hair who had an easy smile on her face. She was chatting quietly with a few boys standing around her.

Aside from Ryota, there were a few more people with Asian facial structures; a pair of twins with Indian heritage, two girls, and a boy with East Asian features. Although, it was the boy who caught Harry's attention. There was a streak of light blue in his raven black hair. Suddenly the boy looked up and their eyes met, she was surprised to find the pale color instead of dark Asian eyes. She gave him a shaky smile which he returned before the boy looked away. Perhaps, he had a mixed heritage like Ryota? Since their blood was magical, the genetics at work here might be different somehow?

"How do you think they will sort us into Houses?" The tall black boy asked the youngest Weasley who stood next to him. Several people craned their necks closer, listening curiously.

"Some sort of test, I think." The red-haired boy replied nervously. "Fred said we have to fight a troll."

"A troll?" asked Aoife, raising an eyebrow. "You're having me on, dude."

"Just relaying what my brother said, that's all!" The tall boy defended himself.

"Only someone like you would believe something as idiotic as that, Weasley." Malfoy piped in from where he stood with his large goons, although this time another girl with short dark hair, hanging on his arm like a limpet. The said girl gave a high-pitched giggle at Malfoy's words.

"Scared, Nancy Boy?" Harry couldn't help herself and smirk. Several students gaped at her.

"Black, tell your pet to shut her mouth." Malfoy sneered.

"I'm not an owl. Why don't you tell her yourself?" Leo shrugged airily.

"Is this the uncultured squib that supposed to be your cousin, Draco? Oh, poor you!" The girl who hung on Malfoy's arm piped up. Her hair dark, in a bob style, with a pair of large, dark, googly eyes. Her face greatly resembled a pug.

"Why yes, Pansy. This is _he_." Malfoy confirmed with a superior smirk.

Feeling a bit annoyed at the jab at Leo, Harry said, "Oh, did anyone hear that?" she craned her neck as if trying to hear something. Malfoy's smile faltered at her words.

"No. What did you hear, darling?" Aoife asked as if on cue, her American accented thickened. She winked at an amused Leo.

"I reckon, I hear some dogs barking in here somewhere." Harry looked around dramatically. The black boy and the youngest Weasley laughed out loud while the girl called Pansy turned redder than tomato.

"Why you little tart!" She prepared to lunge for Harry if it weren't for her other friends pulling her back.

"Don't! you shouldn't fight-" Granger tried and failed to warn them.

Ignoring the busy hair girl completely, Harry snapped her head toward the pug-faced girl so fast, gasped dramatically, and said in a sing-song tone, "Blimey! Who let the pug out?"

"Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof!" The black boy sang along merrily, recognizing the reference. Leo coughed to hide his laugh. Several students who were muggle-raised snickered as well.

Harry, still ignoring the outraged girl, turned toward the pale boy instead. "Did you get all her shots, Malfoy? We might not know if she's rabid! At least, put a leash on her!"

"I have no idea what are you talking about." Gobsmacked, Malfoy gritted his teeth. His two bodyguards stared on, dumb as bricks.

"Of course not. Why would you?" Harry sighed exaggeratedly before anyone could do or say anything else, several someones screamed.

"What the—?" Harry blinked and turned toward the sound. She gasped like many others did when about twenty pearly white and transparent bodies floated through the back wall. They glided across the room, hardly noticing the first years. Harry shivered as the room had gone even colder when they streamed in.

Malfoy and his gangs went whiter than paper as they scoot away from the floating ghosts. Ryota shook visibly, clutching his robes. Leo looked on in wonders.

"Wicked." Harry stared after a good number of ghosts in various periods of clothing floated by, astonished. Some of the jollier ones stopped and chatted with the first years while others ignored them completely.

"Only you'll get excited about something like this," Leo muttered at her. She grinned back. After a few minutes, the ghostly company moved on by floating through the wall. Ryota relaxed a little bit, he looked relieved to be rid of their first paranormal encounter.

Suddenly Professor McGonagall strode back in, her face as stern as before, in her hand was a roll of parchment.

"We are ready for you," She said in a sharp voice, her green eyes peered through the square lenses at a few of the first years; she pursed her lips for a second when they fell on Ron's smudged nose again before moving on. "Now, form a line, and follow me"

Granger almost bounced and was the first one to follow Professor McGonagall. Harry quickly pulled on her friend's robe sleeve as she pushed Leo into the line in front of her. Aoife trailed right behind her with Ryota following. And one by one, they walked out of the small chamber, back across the hall and then through a pair of double doors in the Great Hall.

Sounds of sharp inhales came from behind and in front of her, at the same time, Harry's jaw hung open as she witnessed the wonders before her.

Thousands of lit candles floated in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting; Harry guessed they were Houses' tables. On each of them laid with shiny golden plates and goblets. Above the candles, Harry saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with even more thousands of glittering stars. Leo leaned forward and whisper to her, "Remember what we've read? It's bewitched to look like the sky outside."

Unable to speak, she only nodded. Words could barely describe how wondrous sight it was. This was even better than the CGI for Rivendell in Lord of the Rings movies, or Cair Paravel from The Chronicles of Narnia movie. Because unlike what she had seen on TV or movies—this, to her, this was real—A real-life magical place.

Professor McGonagall led the students up to the space in front of another long table where the teachers sat. The rest of the first years milling in, filling the tight space. Hundreds of faces staring at them, with the students from behind, the teachers sat facing them, and the ghosts floating above their heads. Once the last of the first-years fell in line, Professor McGonagall set a four-legged stool in front of them, on top was an old fraying pointy wizard's hat. It was patchy and dirty; Aunt Petunia would have aneurysm just by looking at it.

For a long moment, no one spoke. Harry blinked and looking around widely for a second before noticing that everyone seemed to be staring at the hat sitting innocently on the stool. Silence fell across the hall and Harry's eyes glanced back to the said hat. For a few seconds, nothing happened. And then suddenly, the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide resembling a mouth, a scratchy voice floated out of it—and the hat began to sing:

_Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_if you've a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folks use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

_For I'm a Thinking Cap!_

Harry stared as the whole hall erupted with applause. The hat twitched and bowed toward each four houses before went idle once more.

"So, we just have to try on the hat?" Harry asked dubiously. Somewhere nearby, she could hear Weasley muttering about punching his brothers for playing a trick on him, again.

"I guess," Leo's eyes still fixed on the idle hat; a contemplating look on his face. Harry left him to his thought as hers ran wide from the song she had just heard. Thinking about what the hat would see inside of her, she didn't feel chivalry, or quick-witted, or cunning, and most of the time she barely had any patience for anything. If there was a house for a hot-head person, maybe that would be the one for her.

A pang of panic blooming inside her chest. What if the hat put her anywhere besides Gryffindor? That was the house she wanted to be put in. It was her parents' former house. Or worst, what if it put her in a different house from Leo, or Aoife? She wanted them all to be in the same house. Ryota, too, if she was lucky.

Her inner turmoil was cut abruptly short when the applause finally died down and the Great Hall became quiet.

Professor McGonagall stepped up by the stool and unrolled the parchment in her hands. "When I call your name, you're to come up here to sit on this stool and put on the hat in order to be sorted." She said before looking down at the parchment. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A girl with blonde pigtails stumbled forward from the crowd of panicking first years, she sat down shakily on the stool before the hat was placed upon her head. The hat fell right down over her eyes. A moment's pause—

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat. And the table closest to their left erupted in clapping and cheers. Hannah took the hat off and quickly went to Hufflepuff table. Harry noticed the monk ghost from earlier waved merrily at her.

"Aldridge, Uilliam!" Professor McGonagall called the next name.

This time, a boy with wavy auburn staggered out from the line. His steps were shaky as he walked toward the stool. Professor McGonagall nodded assuredly at the boy when he sat down. The hat was placed on his head, this time it took only a few second;

"RAVENCLAW!"

The table on right clapped loudly this time. Several Ravenclaws, including the Head Boy that helped them on the train, stood up to shake hands with Uilliam. But unlike the Hufflepuff Ghost, the Ghost Lady sat immobile with a grim look on her face. The auburn-haired boy looked quite relieved for not being greeted personally by his House Ghost.

"Armitage, Seth!" was called. And a boy with brown hair stepped out. Unlike the first two, he marched confidently to the stool and sat down.

"SLYTHERIN!"

The tabled on the far right stood up and clapped. Harry glanced over to Slytherin's table and wondered if her perception was clouded because of all the things she learned about Slytherins. The people sitting at their looked like an unpleasant lot. She spied the older boy; Cassius Warrington, whom she met on the train earlier, sitting among the Slytherin's crowd. Harry had a feeling that if Dudley was a wizard, he would have fitted right in with this table. It was hard to believe that a kind person like Madam Lucretia was one a Slytherin.

Since all other tables had already been identified, Harry glanced over at the last one on the far left, which no student had been called yet. She spied the redhead twins sat among the crowds, a few seats over was Percy the Prefect. All of them radiated an air of apprehension, so thick she could feel it from where she stood.

"So, we are being called by alphabetical order," Leo commented quietly next to her. She realized that too. Which meant, Leo would be the first to get sorted. Then Aoife, then Ryota. Harry would be the last out of the four of them.

"Beauchamp, Vivien!" was next to sit on the stool. It was the same pretty, tall girl with strawberry blond hair that Harry noticed earlier. Harry pushed down a pang of envious at how easy and confident the girl's pace was as she made her way toward the stool. There were some cat-calls from the second-and third-year boys—not surprising, considering how pretty the girl was. It only stopped when Professor McGonagall gave them a stern look.

Leo leaned over and whispered to her, "That's the daughter of the former French Ambassador."

Harry scolded at the information. "How do you even know that?"

The boy shrugged, "She was photographed by the Daily Prophet."

"I read the same bloody papers, and I've never seen her," Harry muttered back to him.

A minute later, the hat announced that Vivien Beauchamp was a Hufflepuff. The Hufflepuff table cheered and clapped loudly once more. While the Gryffindor started to spot agitated looks all around. Not even one student had been sorted into the house yet.

"Black, Leonis!"

There was absolute silence in the Great Hall, but only for a minute. The next, they broke out into whispers. Leo said nothing but gave her a wink before strode from the line of first-years toward the stool.

"Black, as in _Sirius Black_?"

"I thought he's a squib!"

"Why bother sorting him? Probably end up in Slytherin,"

Harry's face hardened as the whispers continued. Even Professor McGonagall's face tightened as well. Leo, on the other hand, act like nothing had happened and simply put the sorting hat on to his head. The hat's flaps twitched up and down as if it was speaking something that only the wearer could hear.

"I know you are famous, but I didn't know Leo is, too," Ryota asked in a hushed tone.

"It's not my story to tell," Harry whispered back a reply. "But it's not for the reason you'd think, maybe he'll tell you later." The boy nodded understandingly.

A minute passed, and then two became three. Leo sat with hand-clapping together, his posture relaxed, one of his fingers tapping patiently as if waiting for something. There was no tension in his body as time dragged on. Everyone waited with bated breath. The hush whispers continued. Harry looked down at her wristwatch, realized that almost five minutes had passed.

"Maybe the hat knows he really is a squib," Malfoy commented from where he stood, the pug face girl and his goons snickered until Professor McGonagall sent them a look of absolute disapproval. They wilted immediately.

"I can't believe Black is a _hatstall_?!" someone said from the crowd. Harry had no idea what a hatstall was. But if she had to guess, it must be sorting related term.

"Just put him in Slytherin already! An upper-year boy from Slytherin commented loudly. There were mumbles of agreements to the statement coming from the aforementioned house.

Harry noticed several students from the Slytherin table had self-satisfied looks on their faces. She knew that almost every Black went to Slytherin. All excepted for Sirius. Statistically speaking and from the hat's song, there was a very high chance Leo would end up in Slytherin. The long years she had known him, Leo proved times and again how smart and cunning he could be. All the plotting and scheming, he never hid it from her.

For the first time, her chest tightened at the possibility of being in a different house with Leo for seven years made it hard for her to breathe. How unbearable it would be if that were to happe—

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry blinked when her thoughts were abruptly cut off once more, her mouth hung open. The rest of the Great Hall were in a similar shocked expression. She watched as Leo took the hat off with relish and gave it back to Professor McGonagall. Harry spied a small smile on the witch's face as she took the hat from him.

Gryffindor table all got up and exploded with claps and cheers. Some upper-year Gryffindors booed and pointed at the Slytherin table. Harry watched with amused fascination as Leo strode there with a smug look on his face. The Weasley twins came to shake his hands. Even Percy got up to congratulate him. She wasn't sure that it was because Gryffindors were very accepting of the son of the famous murderer, or it was because of the chance to _one-up_ Slytherins.

"That was intense." Aoife commented as the sorting continued when Professor McGonagall called for, "Bletchley, Odessa!"

"You said it," Harry watched as the girl with brown hair was sorted into Slytherin with a minute of sitting down.

"Bones, Susan!" The next name was called right after. This time a girl with braided auburn hair stepped forward.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat cried again; the same table cheered once more as Susan slid into a seat next to Hannah and Vivien.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Brocklehurst, Mandy" also joined the Ravenclaws, but "Brown, Lavender" became the first girl to join Gryffindor. The Gryffindor table went up with cheers again, the twins catcalling good-naturedly to welcome Lavender to their table. The blond girl giggled and sat down opposite to Leo who clapped politely for her.

"Bulstrode, Millicent" a large girl with jutting jaw marched menacingly to join Slytherin Table where it sat against the wall on the right where unpleasant looking people clapped and welcomed her. And soon she was joined by "Carrow, Drusilla"

Both "Corner, Michael" and "Cornfoot, Stephen" went to Ravenclaw.

"Crabbe, Vincent!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

Harry grimaced as she watched the first of Malfoy's cronies ambled toward the Slytherin table. She wasn't surprised at all if all of them end up in the same house. Just… as long as it wasn't the same one with her.

"Darlington, Bonnie" was the third student to join Gryffindor. The redhead girl slid in next to Lavender, the two cooed at each other.

As the sorting continued—the numbers of Slytherins increased as "Davis, Tracy", "Fawley, Rhiannon" and "Goyle, Gregory" joined their table.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin", "Ethridge, Simone" went to Hufflepuff.

Ravenclaw gained "Entwhistle, Kevin" and "Goldstein, Anthony", while Gryffindor got "Finnigan, Seamus"—Harry noticed that sometimes the hat announced the House almost instantly, while some, like "Granger, Hermione" took almost as long as Leo did before it shouted "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Greengrass, Daphne!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Hawke, Aoife!"

Her friend gasped next to her, she whispered "Wish me luck!" before skipping toward the stool. Harry and Ryota scooted closer as they watched Professor McGonagall put the hat on Aoife's head. After a short minute, the hat cried, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Aoife cheered as she skipped to Gryffindor table's loud and cheery welcome. Leo grinned as he stood up from his seat to congratulate her. They sat down together as the next name was called.

"Han, Min-ah!" was one of the Asian looking girls Harry had noticed from earlier. Soon the hat sent her to Ravenclaw.

The next three; Hopkins, Johnson, and Jones all ended up in Hufflepuff. Harry was wondering if there was a limit on how many were allowed into the house, because Hufflepuff seemed to be getting more students than other houses when "Kise, Ryota!" was called.

Ryota stiffened. Harry patted his shoulders encouragingly as the boy wobbly stepped forward. The hat took a little longer than it did with Aoife before it announced, "GRYFFINDOR!"

The boy grinned as he joined the rest of her friend at the Gryffindor table.

"Kuroko, Tetsuya!"

Her thoughts took a halt as she watched the Asian boy with a blue streak in his hair sat down on the stool. There were a few whispers as the hat took its time.

"I've heard he's a son of the Japanese ambassador." Someone among the first-year said.

"We sat with him on the train, he's very polite." One of the Indian twins whispered.

"And he's very cute!" the other twins gushed. There were hushed giggles that soon followed.

"I wonder if his hair was natural,"

"GRYFFINDOR!" finally, the hat shouted. The boy took the hat off, bow politely to Professor McGonagall before walked to the cheering Gryffindors.

"Li, Sue" the other Asian-looking girl (How funny that all four Asian students—with exception of the Indian twins, were sorted back-to-back like this?) went to Ravenclaw. "Livesey, Drew" was yet, another to join the Hufflepuffs.

"Longbottom, Neville!"

Everyone snickered when Neville almost missed the stool sitting down. The hat took its time once again as Harry spied Neville's lips moving as if muttering to himself. Finally, after almost five minutes passed, it shouted: "GRYFFINDOR!"

Neville ran off, with the hat still on his head. Everyone laughed out loud. Professor McGonagall gave the boy sting eyes as he jogged back and returned it to the stool for "MacDougal, Isobel" to be sorted. She went to Ravenclaw. While "Macmillan, Ernest" went to Hufflepuff.

"Ugh." Harry heard Ron scoffed from behind her as they all watched Malfoy's name being called. "Bet you my chocolate frogs that he's going to Slytherin." He said to the black boy next to him.

"You said the same thing with Black." The black boy retorted, "You don't have any more chocolate frogs left, mate."

She secretly scolded at them but Harry admitted, it was a _sucker bet_.

The pale boy puffed up and swaggered forward, completely missed a purse of Professor McGonagall's lips as she watched him sit down to be sorted. The sorting hat had barely touched his slicked blonde hair when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"

Malfoy smirked proudly as he flounced off to join his goons; Crabbe and Goyle who pushed another first year off his seat to make room for the pale boy.

Harry's heart became heavier and heavier as the sorting continue. She didn't even smile as she watched the rest of the procession.

Hufflepuff gained a few more with "Malone, Roger" and "Ollerton, Bryony", Slytherin got "Nott, Theodore" and the pug face girl "Parkinson, Pansy"

The Indian twins; the Patils were separated. Padma went to Ravenclaw with "Montmorency, Louella", while Parvati was sorted to Gryffindor. Harry didn't even pay attention to where "Perks, Sally-Anne" went. Because at last—

"Potter, Hariel!"

**: : : : : :**

"Potter, Hariel!" Professor McGonagall's seemed to echo through the Great Hall even more than usual.

All around him, whispers suddenly broke out as Leo watched Harry made her way to the stool.

"_Potter_, did she say?"

"_The_ Hariel Potter?"

"She _walked_ past me on the train, can you believe it?!"

People all over the hall, not just the students, but also the teachers, sat up or craning their necks, trying to get a good look at her. All eyes glued to her every second as Professor McGonagall put the hat on her head.

A few minutes passed and the hat still silent. Harry gripped the edge of the stool nervously; Leo could see her lips moving, no doubt conversing with the sorting hat. Not far from him, Aoife clapped her hands together and muttering prayers. Ryota stared unblinking at the scene. Everyone waited with bated breath.

Even knowing which house Harry would end up, did not help to relieve the tightness Leo was feeling in his chest.

The hat had almost put him in Slytherin earlier, citing that it was the best choice for him. Where he could grow and become something great. He had refused and asked to be put in Gryffindor. While being in any other houses could still work, why would he pick the riskier path if he could help it. He had no idea how houses politics worked here at Hogwarts, only the Great Rivalry between Gryffindors and Slytherins. And so, he and the hat argued for several minutes, the hat only relented after revealing that it knew about his reincarnation. The sole reason it went with his request was for him not to regret his choice.

He wouldn't. He knew where he needed to be in order to help Harry with her destiny.

And then as Leo had expected;

"GRYFFINDOR!" Finally, the hat bellowed.

There was an explosion of noises. Aoife squealed and jumped up from her seat. Leo's lips curled into a lop-sided grin as he got up along with the rest of the Gryffindor table. Ryota let out a catcall, hands clapping as hard as he could. Cheers and applauses exploded even louder than before as Harry glided toward their house table with a bright smile on her face.

Percy Weasley was first to grab Harry's hand and shook vigorously, while the Weasley twins shamelessly chanted. "_We got Potter! We got Potter!_" Aoife practically shoved Percy away, so she could give Harry a tight hug. The older boy sputtered as he adjusted his askew glasses, but he could say nothing as the other Gryffindors swamped them with congratulations.

"Phew!" Harry let out a relieved breath when she finally slid down next to him after the enthusiastic crowds let her go. Ryota reached over the table and patted her shoulder as a congratulation.

"Unbelievable," Leo sighed mockingly and whispered to her, "That Sorting Hat had no idea what it had wrought this school, putting us in the same House."

"Please, I'm as innocent as a lamb." Harry grinned back as they bumped fists under the table before nodding politely at Tetsuya Kuroko who shared Ryota's other side. Harry also gave a wink at the flustered Neville Longbottom. Maybe his friend finally realized who the boy really was?

"Baaaaaa." Aoife bleated mockingly at them, earning questioning looks from several of their new housemates.

"Shh!" Hermione hushed them from across the table as "Rivers, Olivier" was sorted into Hufflepuff.

"Roper, Sophie!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Smith, Zacharias!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Hufflepuff, again?" commented Harry. "Is it just me or a lot of people going to Hufflepuff?"

"He's their number sixteen," Leo said.

"Seriously, you've been counting?" Seamus Finnigan asked with wide eyes.

"Yes."

"Is there a limit on how many students to be sort in each house?" Harry leaned in and asked Leo.

Instead, it was Hermione who answered, "Don't be silly, of course not!"

Harry clicked her tongue at the girl's nosiness but decided to turn her attention back to the sorting soon after.

Turned out, Smith was the last one to join Hufflepuff. But Ravenclaw gained another with "Swaine, Tristan,"

"Thomas, Dean," the black boy who woofed along with the song with Harry earlier joined them at the Gryffindor table. Next was another set of fraternal twins. Just like the Patils, they were separated as well. The girl; Davina Troy went to Slytherin, while the boy; Declan Troy came to their table.

And then there were only four people left to be sorted. The girl with pigtail "Turpin, Lisa" became the last Ravenclaw. "Vicary, Owain" was quickly sorted into Slytherin. And then Ron Weasley—the last Gryffindor.

Three older Weasleys jumped up and cheered for him as the boy slid off the stool and ran to their table.

"Well done, Ron, excellent," said Percy Weasley pompously as he welcomed his brother to their table. Ron Weasley collapsed dazedly next to Dean as the last boy, "Zabini, Blaise," was made a Slytherin.

With all new students sorted and seated, Professor McGonagall packed away the stool and the hat quickly. Once she finished and sat down with the rest of the staff, a tall elderly wizard at the High Table stood up and made his way to an Owl Lectern.

His long hair and beard silvery gray, his wrinkled face both kind and his pale eyes twinkled mysteriously behind a pair of half-moon glasses. His long robes in vivid blue with pink and gold embroidery clashed with the rest of the staff's more somber color robes. It was like only yesterday when Leo met him the first time. Next to him, Harry straightened in her seat.

Albus Dumbledore, one of the greatest wizards in modern history, he was still as colorful, perhaps more so than the last time they had seen him.

"Welcome!" He announced, beaming at the students with arms opened wide. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!

"Thank you!"

And then he sat back down with a pleased smile on his aged face. Everybody clapped and cheered while some younger students gaped at their Headmaster. Harry laughed.

"I know I said this before but, wow. He's like Gandalf but more colorful," She glanced at the headmaster's flashy robes again. "Almost psychedelic, even."

A few muggle-raised students who caught the reference, including Dean and Ryota, chuckled. Hermione, however, sniffed disapprovingly at them. Harry retaliated by clicking her tongue at her. Leo sighed and elbowed her warningly.

Suddenly there were gasps all around them. Leo blinked and looked down in front of him. The empty plates now piled with foods. A few seats over, the youngest Weasley dove for the nearest plate of roast chicken. Leo stared at the amount of food in front of him; roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops, lamb chops, sausages, bacon, all types of cooked potatoes and vegetables, including some others he didn't know the names of. He had an inkling suspicion that these foods must be the work of Hogwarts' house-elves.

"He's a bit mad, yes," Percy referred about their Headmaster as he spooned mashed potatoes for himself. "But a genius. The greatest in the world."

"I'll take your words for it." Leo heard his friend's say as the girl helped herself some juicy steak as well as roast beef before she piled sausages on to the plate too. Before adding some sided vegetables.

"Merlin, are you going to eat all that?" Lavender asked as Parvati, Bonnie and she stared at the amount of food on Harry's plate, Even Hermione side-eyed Harry from where she sat. Ah, no one ever saw the amount of food Harry could put away. It was a wonder how much she could eat but still skinny. All her energy went to gymnastics.

"Sure do." Harry grinned and cut into her steak. "Besides, I have less than Ronald over there."

Ron paused mid-chew, looking up from the mountain of foods on his plate, and blinked at the staring eyes. His mouth stuffed with meat of chicken leg. "Waf?"

Hermione glared at the boy's sloppiness and turned back to her food. Lavender, Bonnie, and Parvati grimaced at him but said nothing else. Leo handed a plate of boiled carrots to Dean and the black boy started piling food on his plate. Leo decided to go with the steak as well.

Just as he was cutting into his steak, Leo felt the shiver went down his spine. A white transparent humanoid-shaped floated down next to his other side. Ryota let out a loud squeak and turned pale from his seat.

"That does look good," said the ghost sadly, watching Leo cut up his steak.

"Can't you—?" Harry asked from his other side, she looked at the ghost with great interest.

"My dear, I haven't eaten for nearly five hundred years," replied the ghost.

The ghost then introduced himself as Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower. The regaling of his tales was interrupted by a rude Ron Weasley. Saying that he knew of his other name; Nearly Headless Nick. Then Seamus made a mistake of asking how could someone be _nearly_ headless.

Sir Nicholas made a show by letting his head swung off his neck, it fell on his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. Ryota let out an unintelligent squeak, he would have fallen off his seat if Tetsuya; the Japanese boy who had the blue streak in his hair and pale blue eyes hadn't caught him. Looking pleased with stunning looks he acquired from the first-years, Sir Nicholas wished them well and asked them to bring glory to Gryffindor's house. And then the ghost departed, floating away.

"Don't mind Sir Nick," said the dark skin girl from the upper-year. "He's always touchy about his _condition_."

The first-years nodded understandingly and the meal continued.

"So, Ryota. Bonnie said that you are a muggle actor?" Lavender asked demurely.

"Yes. I have to take a break now though since I have to be here at Hogwarts." The golden-eyed boy, already recovered from his fright, smiled brightly. Leo could even hear some of the girls sighed dreamily in the background.

"Your name, it's Japanese, isn't it?" Parvati piped in.

"He's half Japanese, half English!" The red-haired girl named Bonnie told her friend. She must be muggle-raised since she knew who Ryota was.

The three girls giggled while Ryota gave them with a practiced smile. The boy reminded Leo of the former mentor in his previous life; the _Bruce Wayne_ Persona. He saw it too many times during social events and fundraisers. He even used the likeness himself a few times as Tim Drake. The practice smiles, the frivolous acts, the well-placed words.

"What about you, Tetsuya?" The red-head girl turned her attention to the other Japanese boy. "Are you a Mixed, too?"

The exotic-looking boy looked up and paused from his meal, "Pardon?"

"We're just curious if you are a Mixed like Ryota since your eyes are almost blue. They're very pretty!" Lavender cooed. "Your hair, too! Are they natural?"

There was a confused look on his face. Ryota who was sitting next to the boy leaned down and muttered to the boy in Japanese. Leo listened as the taller boy explained the question to the shorter one. Everyone waited with rapt attention.

"Oh," The boy paused for a moment as if to think about what he had to say. "I inherited my eyes from my mother. Everyone from my mother's clan has these eyes and hair. But she's Japanese."

The accent wasn't as thick as Leo had expected. If what he had heard from the girls been gushing about was true, Tetsuya Kuroko was the son of the new Japanese ambassador; Masaya Kuroko. Leo recalled reading the news of the man's recent posting. But unlike with Beauchamp, he was never photographed with his family.

"Your English is quite good," Leo commented to the other boy. "Not many Japanese can speak as well as you."

"And how would you know that, Black?" asked Ron, the boy's eyes narrowed on to him.

"It's common knowledge," Ryota said gently as if sensing the tension. "I mean, in the muggle world. It's common knowledge."

"Oh," Ron said lamely, he shrugged and then went back to shoveling food into his mouth.

"Thank you for your kind world, Black-san." Tetsuya said, "I still have much more to learn. Everyone, please take care of me." And then with a bob of his head, did a half bow. Some of the girls cooed at him. Leo watched Harry rolled her eyes at their antics.

"Hey, what about you, Hawke. You do sound very American." This time it was Dean who asked. "Are you from America?"

"Y'all can just call me Aoife! Everyone does! And technically, our house is _in_ Hogsmeade." Aoife replied. "I've been living there for two years now. But yes, I was born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Never really lived there though. Our family moves a lot because of my Dad's jobs."

"Must have been hard, having to travel a lot," said Declan Troy, he was the boy who got separated with his twins.

Aoife shrugged. "Not really, it's cool being able to check out new places."

"Do you miss living there then?" Dean asked again.

"I think I miss the weather. Especially when we lived in San Diego." Several laughs agreeing about Britain's horrid climates.

"You seem to know a lot about muggle culture, but you said your house is in Hogsmeade?" Lavender piped in.

"Well, during travel, sometimes we have to live in a muggle neighborhood. We have to blend in, ya know?"

"We do the same thing in Japan." Everyone was surprised to see it was Tetsuya who said it. "Mahoutokoro starts our education at age seven. But only part-time. We spent weekdays at the mundane school, and weekends at magic school."

"Mahoutokoro? Is that the Japanese magic school?" Hermione asked from several seats away. "I've read that there are other magical schools around the world,"

"There's Beauxbatons in France," Leo offered,

"And Ilvermorny in America." Aoife added, "My parents are alumni!"

"There's one in India where my cousins went to school. But I never remember the name." Parvati shrugged.

"Wow, I can't believe there are so many magic schools out there," Dean commented in amazement.

"Yeah, it was fun, going to muggle school, watching muggle movies and TV. Besides, you kinda have to when are friends with these two." She motioned the hands toward Harry and Leo.

"Wait, so the three of you know each other before today?" Bonnie asked with sparkling eyes.

"Her father was our tutor," Harry waved her hand toward Aoife. Before did the same toward Leo. "And I live in the same neighborhood as him. We've met at a Summer Camp when we were Eight, been friends ever since."

"What's a Summer Camp?" Ron perked up at that moment.

"It's just like it sounds, mate. It's where muggle parents send their kids to spend time during the summer months." Dean explained, "I used to go one for sports."

"But that's muggle thing, right? Why would someone like _Black_ go to anything muggle?" Ron asked again, there was almost a sneer in his voice.

Leo watched as Harry narrowed her eyes at the boy. Calmly he said, "Well, I do live in a muggle neighborhood. So does Hariel."

"But…but that's mean she's living with muggles!" Ron gaped, scandalized at what he'd heard. "It can't be, I mean… she's _Hariel Potter_!"

Instead of saying anything, Harry rolled her eyes and shoved a piece of meat into her mouth to hide her amusement.

"Is there something wrong with living with muggles?" Ryota smiled innocently at the redhead boy, although that smile barely reached his eyes. "Where do you think she lives? In the woods? Raised by elves?"

Leo, Aoife, and Harry blinked at their new friend's words. Surprisingly, he was half-corrected. She was, sort of, raised by Misty who was a house-elf.

Ron, however, didn't seem to catch on. "Well, yes! House of Potter is one of the wealthiest Wizard Families in the UK! Of course, he'll own some house-elves!"

"I don't think he's talking about the same kind of elves you're used to," said Hermione to Ryota.

"You mean, your kind of elves doesn't have pointy ears?" But it was Dean who questioned further.

"' Course, they do!" Ron said, shoved more food into his mouth.

"Aren't they tall and willowy?" Ryota asked again.

"Tall? Willowy? Don't be silly! There's no way house-elves are tall!" Parvati giggled.

"The tallest I've seen was only three feet." For the first time that night, Neville chimed in.

"So, they're not androgynous? Excellent in all types of fighting, especially archery or sword-fight?" Ryota kept going.

"No way! House-elves only good at housekeeping, cooking, and sometimes raising babies!" Ron told them.

Disappointed, he pouted. "Here goes my chance to find my own Arwen!"

"What's an Arwen?" He heard Ron muttered to Dean. The black boy just shrugged and told the boy that he would explain later.

"Off-topic aside, yes, I've been living with muggle relatives." Harry clarified. "But Leo and I went to the same muggle primary school and been friends since we're Eight."

"Wow." Ron turned to stare at her in amazement, and then his gaze slid toward Leo, there was a hint of envy in his eyes. For what? For being a friend with the _famous_ Hariel Potter? It was only a second, because the boy's eyes darted to Harry's scar again, completely awestruck.

Harry's face strained, still not used to so much attention being thrown at her so blatantly. As if sensing his friend's uneasiness. Leo steered the topic away from his and Harry's families.

So, instead, Leo asked, "What about everyone else? Are you all from wizard families?"

The rest of the first years launched into their own tales. Parvati and Lavender both were raised in the Wizarding world and had been friends since they were little. Bonnie and Dean were a muggleborn just like Hermione and Ryota, while Seamus Finnigan was an Irish half-blood, whose mother hadn't told her husband she was a witch until after they'd gotten married. Declan was also Irish, but he was from a wizard family.

Tetsuya told them a little bit about his life in Kyoto, Japan before moving to England because of his father's posting. He had an older brother who still attending Mahoutokoro who decided not to move with them, instead of staying back in Japan with his mother to finish two more years of his education.

Then it was Ron's turn. He launched into the tales of his life as someone who came from another long line of wizarding family and had two older brothers that already graduated from Hogwarts; one was a curse-breaker based in Egypt and the other working with dragons in Romania. Five older brothers _and_ a younger sister? Aunt Lucretia mentioned that the Weasleys had a lot of children, she didn't tell him there were seven of them.

Someone joked about how it must be crazy in the morning when everyone wanting to use the bathroom. Everyone laughed merrily.

Finally, it was Neville's turn. The shy boy told them that everyone in his family thought he was a squib because he never showed any accidental magic. Including all the attempts his family tried to force the magic to show, like dropping the boy down the pier or hanging him out of the window. Harry's mouth gaped open in disbelieve. Leo could see she wanted to say something but, in the end, she kept quiet.

The conversation moved on to the next topic, much to Leo's relief. By the time, desserts were magically served, the conversations had switched to the Quidditch Cup. Leo dug into his chocolate cake while Harry helped herself for some treacle tart. Both were listening half-heartily to Ron explaining excitedly to Dean how the popular wizarding sports were played when he heard Harry's painful yelp.

"Ouch!"

"What is it?" Leo turned to see Harry clapping a hand over her forehead.

"Nothing, my scar just hurt all of the sudden. I'll be fine." Harry rubbed her at the forehead, wincing as she shook it off. Instead, she leaned in and said, "Hey, that's Quirrell."

Leo frowned at her, recognized the tactic of changing the topic. She learned it from him after all. It was clearly _not_ nothing but he didn't see the point of pushing the issue, for now. And so, he followed her eyes back toward the High Table where the staff was sitting. His grey eyes swept through the faces there. "The one you met at the Leaky Cauldron?—with the turban?"

The said man looked to be in his early thirty, his head wrapped in a purple turban. His demeanor shaky and his eyes kept darting from place to place, as if anxious about everything. Leo's eyes narrowed, his instinct telling him there was something more to this man than meets the eyes. Although that that something was good or bad, he couldn't really tell yet. Need more time for observation.

"He didn't wear the turban then though," Harry nodded before leaned over and asked the older Weasley. "Hey, Percy. Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?"

"Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you?" Percy sat straighter when he heard Harry addressing to him, the older boy looked toward the staff's table, Leo did the same. The older boy pursed his lips before answering, "No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to—everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape."

Leo's eyes found the aforementioned teacher right away. The man with a large hooked nose had pitch-black hair that looked unhygienically greasy, his sallow skin stood out against the black robes he wore. Ah, even after years later, his father's vivid rants about the man was pretty accurate. While Snape wasn't a common name, but he could be wrong, so—

"I don't suppose, he happens to be Severus Snape?" asked Leo.

"Oh, yes. That's him. People say he's a brilliant Potion Master. I reckon you've heard of him?"

"I've read about him in Potions Quarterly," Leo said absently. Percy's attention was pulled away by Hermione asking him about the lessons. As the older boy prattled on, Leo leaned down and whispered to his friend. "Why are you asking about Snevillus?"

Harry stopped mid-chew and turned to him, she whispered back. "Professor Snape is _Snevillus_?"

"Yeah, my father's descriptions of him; 'The greasy git with a nose bigger than his face', 'Pale as a vampire', and 'Obsessed with potion and Dark arts', were pretty spot on." Leo explained, "So why is it you asked about him?"

Harry groaned and dropped her head between her arms. "I just thought he was staring at me like he hates my guts. But it was only for a second!" she sighed, "I guess, it wasn't just my imagination, then?"

"Hmm, maybe. We'll see if you're right when it's time for his class." He hadn't wanted to discourage his friend when the term didn't even start yet. But there was a possibility of having one of your professors disliking you for something your father did. Leo was in the same situation. With the amount of ranting Sirius had written about his school nemesis, Leo could almost assume the same treatment would be for the man. He just hoped the man would be mature enough and didn't take it out on innocent children. But if what Harry told him was true, he didn't have much hope.

Harry went back to finish her half-eaten treacle tart, clearly not wanting to think about Snape any longer. Leo, however, kept his eyes on the man for a while longer. But the potion professor did not even glance his way.  
  


**: : : : : :**

At last, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore stood up once more and took the owl lecturn. The hall automatically fell into silence.

"Ahem—just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you."

Hermione sat up even straighter than before, eyes bright, Harry would bet that if she could, the big hair girl would be taking notes by now if she was allowed a notepad.

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." The professor's eyes twinkled and flashed pointily toward the Weasley twins.

"I have been asked by Mr. Filch, our caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors."

"—but no one really cares about that—" one of the Weasley twins whispered to them.

"—We all do magic in the corridors, always, all the time." The other one finished for him. Harry couldn't tell if they were just joking or really meant it. Nevertheless, Hermione scowled disapprovingly at them.

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their House teams should contact Madam Hooch."

Loud cheers rang throughout the hall. Several students, including a tall, dark-haired upper-year with a huge shoulder from their table stood up and clapped approvingly. Harry spied a silver badge with a letter C pinned on his school robe She assumed that he was possibly their Gryffindor Quidditch Captain.

"And Finally," Professor Dumbledore began again once the hall settled down. "I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Leo heard Harry laughed, but she was the only a few who did.

"He's not serious?" She muttered hopefully to her friend. Leo just shrugged.

Percy appeared to hear them from several seats down and answered. "Must be," the older boy frowned. "It's odd because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere—the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. Not even us, prefects were privy to the information this time."

After that explanation, Harry's brows knitted together. "That's like a spoken invitation for any to actually try for it. You know-"

"You tell them not to do something," said Leo.

"—They'll try to do just that." Harry finished. "Yeah, that's like big, flashing sign 'Go here, we dare you!'"

"Absolutely." Her long-time friend nodded in agreement. "Forbidden fruit tastes so much sweeter and all."

"You'd better not be, then." Apparently, Hermione had also been listening in to their conversation. The girl glared at them from her seat. Harry was tempted to tell the girl to mind her own business. But since they had to share the same dorm for the next seven years, She chose to ignore the other girl instead.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried the Headmaster, while most of the staffs' faces became rather fixed. Professor McGonagall's mouth became even thinner than before. Quirrell looked away, avoiding meeting anyone's eyes. Snape's face just went blank. Hagrid was too drunk to comprehend anything else. The only one beside Dumbledore who's beaming about singing was a very short professor with a bowl cut hair, who stood up _on_ his seat enthusiastically.

Dumbledore flicked his wand and a long gold ribbon flew out at the end of it, which rose high above the tables then coiled and twisted itself like a snake, forming words.

"Everyone picks their favorite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!"

The whole school bellowed:

_Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,_

_Teach us something please,_

_Whether we be old and bald,_

_Or young with scabby knees,_

_Our heads could do with filling,_

_With some interesting stuff,_

_For now they're bare and full of air,_

_Dead flies and bits of fluff,_

_So teach us things worth knowing,_

_Bring back what we've forgot,_

_Just do your best, we'll do the rest,_

_And learn until our brains all rot._

It was a big, jumbled mess since everybody sang it with different tunes and keys. Harry almost choke from trying not to laugh. Leo's body shook silently as he forced himself to sing along instead of laughing. Aoife belt out the notes like she was Celine Dion. While Ryota did little body rolls along with the song instead of singing. Neville covered his mouth with his hands while singing, possibly trying to hide his smile. Hermione just gaped in pure horror, because even someone as pompous as Percy Weasley was bellowing along with the rest of the school although in a bit more dignified manner.

And the lyrics were just hysterically hilarious! _The best!_ Her sides hurt just reading along. Now she understood the rest of the teachers' reactions.

At last, only the Weasley twins were left singing with the pace of the funeral march. Dumbledore conducted the last few lines with his wand and once they had finished, he was the one who clapped the loudest.

"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we could do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

The hall erupted into loud chatters when the student body got up all at once. Harry noticed that the first years from each House were being hailed by their house prefects. Percy Weasley jumped out of his seat and held his hand up, calling for Gryffindor first years to follow him.

There was pure chaos outside the Great Hall. Bodies after bodies were thronging and pushing around. Harry stumbled beside her friends as they made their way out to the Entrance Hall once again.

Once there, she spotted two groups whirled to the left, from the colors of the Prefects' robes she'd guessed that they were Hufflepuffs and Slytherins. Percy and another female Prefect; who couldn't be any other House but Ravenclaw, led them across the hall through another large wooden door, where Harry craned her neck upward to check out hundreds of suits of armors lining from the stone floor up to the ceilings, they came out to the marble staircase.

From there, Percy explained about being careful of the moving staircases as both groups made their way up. The hall of the Grand Staircases lined with what seemed to be hundreds of portraits, all of them moving and talking. Many of them greeted the new first-years, some waved at them merrily, while others simply nodded in acknowledgment.

She was so absorbed in looking at all the surroundings, Harry had no idea when Ravenclaws had broken away. Might have been after Percy led them through hidden doorways behind large tapestries, she couldn't be sure because the older boy did that more than once. They climbed some more stairs, Harry starting to feel the fatigue in her legs, more than half of the first years were already dragging their feet. Neville nodded off more than once. Aoife rubbed her eyes several times. Ron imitated a walking zombie. Seamus yawned loudly. Even Hermione became quieter and quieter, more the floors they went up. The only ones who seemed to still be full-on energy were Leo and Ryota. The two chatted animatedly but their voices were low enough not to disturb the older boy who was leading them.

Still, Percy marched them on. After that it seemed like forever, they came to a sudden halt. Harry, spotted something in the air, she elbowed her blond friend in her side, Aoife yelped awake.

"What gives?!" Aoife hissed and rubbed her side.

"Look up," she said without breaking her eyes away from what she was seeing.

Several gasps echoed the landing as they watched a bundle of walking sticks floated in midair ahead of them, and just when Percy stepped toward them, they started throwing themselves at his head. Bonnie, Lavender, and Parvati squeaked and ducked their heads, even though they were nowhere near the prefect. Unsurprised, the older boy whipped out his wand and said. "_Immobulus!_"

The walking sticks floated backward, still hovering in the air.

"Peeves," He turned around and told the stunning first years. "A poltergeist." He raised his voice—wand still raised high, "Peeves—Show yourself!"

A loud, rude sound, like the air being let out of a balloon, answered.

"Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?" The prefect threatened.

There was a pop, and a little man with wicked, dark eyes and wide mouth appeared, floating crossed legs in the air, clutching the rest of walking sticks.

"Oooohhhh!" he cackled evilly. "Ickle Firsties! What Fun!"

The poltergeist swooped down at them, this time everyone ducked. Harry reacted the fastest from her years of gymnastics. She did a dive roll before came up standing on her feet several feet away from the spot. Leo tackled Ryota on to the ground together. Aoife squeaked before dropping. Seamus collided with Ron yelping in pain. Parvati screamed and went down sideways. Hermione wisely stood closed to Percy's back. Neville stood where he was, cried and covered his head with both hands.

"Go away, Peeves, or I'll tell the Baron about this!" Percy barked at the ghost.

The poltergeist blew a raspberry at him before chucking some more sticks at them again. They dove out of the way once more; all came out relatively unharmed except Neville, who was too slow and ended up with a stick dropping directly on top of his head.

The boy sniffled as they listened to the poltergeist cackled and zoomed away through the suit of armors as he passed. Harry walked back to them and pulled Aoife up before dusting off her robe with a grimace, silently cursing the blasted poltergeist. Leo looked so pristine as if he didn't just roll around on the floor at all, unlike Ryota who had his robe smudged with the dust. The rest grumbled at their dusk-covered robes or small bruising from hitting another body or the floor.

"That some dive, mate!" Dean commented with a smile, he was a few who came out relatively unharmed. He helped to pull Ron back up from the floor.

"Thanks!" Harry winked back at the compliment. Ron who was the one that caught it sputtered and fell down sideways to the floor, this time it was him dropping on Seamus. Harry sighed and turned away from the tangle of limps.

"How is your robe so clean?" Aoife asked Leo who stood watching everything with amusement in his eyes.

"Magic." The boy replied airily. Harry rolled her eyes. Of course, his robes would be charmed to prevent dust!

"All right, there?" Percy asked Neville who sniffed loudly but nodded. He patted the boy's back and turned to address the rattled Gryffindor first-years while they set off again, this time down the corridor. "You want to watch out for Peeves, the Bloody Baron's the only who has any control over him. He listened to no one else, not us prefects, sometimes not even Heads of Houses. Ah, and here we are!"

Everyone blinked at Percy's announcement, all awoke now from the excitement earlier. They were at the end of the corridor, in front of a large portrait of a very fat woman wearing a pink silk dress. Her white hair piled high in the pouf hairstyle. Both her dress and hair were in the 18th-century.

"Password?" she inquired, eyeing the ruffled states of the first years critically.

"Caput Draconis," said Percy. The lady said nothing else but all of a sudden, the portrait swung open, revealing an archway hidden behind where Percy rushed them inside.

"Welcome to Gryffindor Tower." The prefect said as every first-year gasped, eyes wide at the sight greeting them.

They were in a large circular room with a huge roaring fireplace, scattered around were mismatched stuffed armchairs and plush settees in different shapes and sizes, all primarily in many shades of red and gold. Tables and chairs were in dark-colored woods. The floor was completely covered with mismatched types of carpets in the same shades of sofa and armchairs. There was a large bulletin board by the entrance from where they'd come in. The walls also lined with portraits—most asleep, tapestries as well as tall windows with curtains in the same color theme. There were two archways on the opposite sides of the room leading somewhere.

All in all, it might be the coziest place Harry had ever laid eyes on. Not even Lunaria Lane or Grimmauld Place could compare to this! And from the approving hum from the boy beside her, she'd bet he thought the same.

"Ah, Percy, you are here!" A voice called, everyone turned around to see an older girl with wavy brown hair approached them. When she saw the eye-wide first-years, she waved at them merrily. "Hello, firsties! My name's Elsie Reid!"

"Elsie is another fifth-year prefect beside myself," Percy explained primly. From the twitch of the older boy's mouth, Harry could tell that this Elsie Reid wasn't Percy's favorite at all. "You can come to any of us if you ever need any help."

"Right now, you're in our common room, where you'll spend your times here outside classes." He puffed himself up and explained. "As you can see, the entrance requires a password, which will be changed once every few weeks. It'll be posted on the board over there." He waved his hand toward the bulletin board by the entrance. All the while, Elsie the prefect stayed quiet. She seemed to be content at having Percy doing all the talking.

"Do not, in any circumstance give out our passwords to students from any other house but ours." He warned.

They all nodded. And the older boy began again. "Boys' Dormitory's upstairs through the doorway on your left," he pointed at the said archway. All the boys' heads swirled toward it at once. "And the girls' is the same on your right," he did the same on the opposite archway. "There'll be a plaque showing your year in front of the room and each room had its own bathroom and lavatory inside. You'll also find that your belongings already were brought up. Curfew for the lower years is at nine o'clock at night—with an exception, of course, to your Astronomy class which will be taking place at night time.

"Breakfast started the earliest at six. Your timetable for the term will be distributed tomorrow. Either by Professor McGonagall or the prefects." Just as Percy finished, the portrait swung open once more like the upper years streaming in. The older boy thought it was time to shoo the first years toward their respective dormitories.

Harry said goodnight to both Leo and Ryota. Aoife just waved at them sleepily. She didn't watch them go, instead of following the trio of giggling girls up the spiral staircase with Aoife dragging her feet behind her. There were colorful glass windows that must have looked pretty when the sunlight hit. They were obviously in one of the tall towers of the castle. Harry mentally laughed, the Dursleys was going to have an aneurysm if they knew she was now living in a bloody castle. But then again, Aunt Petunia did know that from Mum. Harry was tempted to write and inform her that she was now living in the exact same dorm as her mother did.

Finally, at the top of the spiral staircase was the only one circular landing. There were seven doors, each had its own plaque on them. There were no names, instead of showing them the years. Hermione, after checking out each and every plaque, she came to a stop in front of the door saying _the First Year_ and announced. "This is us!"

"Obviously," Lavender muttered under her breath. Her two friends sniggered. But Hermione hadn't been paying attention, she already pushed the wooden door open and bounced inside. The rest of the first-year girls followed her in.

Someone gasped at the sight that greeted them. Harry's mouth hung open as she stared.

Unlike the landing, the room looked to be heptagon-shaped. Six luxurious four poster-beds with deep red, velvet curtains. The head of each bed lined against the wall. Each bed flanked by a set of windows, as well as a set of wooden dressers and chairs. On top of every dresser was a jug of water, for maybe when someone got thirsty at night? On the chairs, their new set of scarves, winter gloves, cardigans, and neckties bearing House crest and colors draped over tidily, as if someone had carefully folded and set them there. By end of each bed, sat their school trunks with their initials etched in gold on that weren't there before.

Harry spotted her trunk, now with H.P. initials glinting under the lamplight. Her bed was sandwiched between Hermione and Aoife. Hedwig's cage sat empty by her window, her snowy owl was nowhere to be seen, however. She wasn't too worry; Hedwig seemed to be intelligent enough to make her way to Harry eventually.

There was a small door on the right side of the room. Curiously, Harry pushed the door open to check out inside, the room turned out to be a shared shower room. One side of the room was three separate stalls with showerheads, but the was no bathtub. There were two toilets and lavatories but no bath. On the other side was a large, ornated mirror. Several racks on the wall filled with fluffy, red towels. The room was lit by several gas lamps, just like she saw at Grimmauld Place.

"Bathroom's this way," said Harry as she came out, letting Parvati slip in to check the room herself.

Harry mused as the other girls took in the rest of the sight. She calculated the size of the landing outside roughly in her head, multiplied by seven, and Harry realized that whoever built the dorm must have used wizarding space to some capacity. Just the attaching shower room and lavatory, the space within already looked to be out of proportion for one tower alone.

It could be that instead of one floor, each door on the landing led to a different floor instead of having seven rooms on one floor. The same could be said for the boys' side. She could not be certain until checking the outside tower during the daytime. It was quite fascinating what magic could do! She could not wait to learn more about it.

"Wow, someone sure loves red and gold, huh?" Aoife commented next to her.

"They're our House colors after all," Hermione said primly and went to where her trunk sat, which happened to be the first bed next to the door. The girl flung open her trunk, started pulling out book after book.

"My kind of room," muttered Harry, checking out her additional part of her school uniforms which someone had laid out for them—scarf, winter gloves, neckties, and knitted-vest—all in house colors trimming and symbol. She fingered the soft yarn that made into the scarf, they were no doubt high-quality.

"It's like living in a fairy tale castle!" Bonnie commented from her bed which sat on the other side of Aoife's.

"We _are _living in the castle, silly!" Lavender giggled as she pulled out a locked box from her trunk, which turned out to be filled with cosmetics.

As they all set-out to transfer their belongings from their trunks to the dressers next to the beds, Parvati spoke from where she stood as she set out the night-cloth on her bed. "I know we already heard our names during the sorting, but let's introduce ourselves for the sake of formality? I'll start," The Indian girl cleared her throat, "I'm Parvati Patil."

"Bonnie Darlington. But you can just call me Bonnie!" the red-head girl followed.

The girl with curly blond hair was next, "My name's Lavender Brown, just Lavender is fine."

"And I'm Aoife Hawke! Nice to meetcha!" Aoife said without looking at any of them, she was transferring her clothes into the dresser.

"Hermione Granger," the bushy hair girl said shortly as she set a muggle photograph on to the dresser next to her bed.

"Potter," said Harry with a practiced pause. "Hariel Potter," she waggled her eyebrow playfully.

Aoife and Bonnie giggled as they were the only ones aside from Hermione who got the reference. However, the big hair girl gave Harry a disapproving sniff. Harry ignored her as she changed into her pajamas.

"You are really _the_ Hariel Potter then?" Lavender asked from her bed, the girl already in her frilly nightgown.

"I don't know, there's more than one Hariel Potter?" Harry said offhandedly as she let her braid down. The other girls excepted Hermione laughed, unoffended.

"Of course not, silly!" Parvati giggled.

Harry shrugged, "Well, I do have this scar, after all." She waved the brush at her forehead. Both Parvati and Lavender gasped, eyes wide. Bonnie stared at it with interest. Even Hermione glanced over her shoulder to look at it. Aoife just shrugged; she had seen it more than enough time already after all.

"Wow, I guess you're going to be so popular with the boys! Even the older ones too!" Lavender said and her two friends nodded in agreement.

"Your hair is really pretty!" Parvati added.

Harry stopped mid-motion, Harry blinked owlishly at that, popular? Her? With her crazy, Potter-hair, and too-sharp facial features? Well … she wasn't ugly or anything, but she wasn't the prettiest either. Even Leo was prettier than her, and he was a _boy_. There was no way she could be popular.

Puzzled at being fawned over so suddenly, she said, "What are you talking about? My hair is a walking disaster. If it wasn't for this hair potion, I will look like I've just been electrocuted." She held up the little green bottle and waved it in the air.

"Ohhh! Isn't that Sleekeazy's?" Lavender jumped off her bed and snatched it out of Harry's hand before she could even blink. "I've heard it's very good but it's a bit too pricey. My mum refused to buy some for me until I'm at least thirteen. By then it will be too late!" She halted her ranting, and turned to Harry and batted her long eyelashes. "Do you mind sharing—?"

"Yeah, sure. You can have that bottle if you want. I have like a whole basket of it." Harry waved her hand and pulled out the small box where she stored the hair potions out.

Parvati and Bonnie approached them and gasped. "Why do you have like ten bottles of these?"

"Leo's grandaunt gave me a big basket as a birthday present—"

Lavender gasped, cutting off Harry's explanation, "His grandaunt gave you these?"

"You've really been friends with him, then?" Parvati asked excitedly.

"Umm, yes?" said Harry. She did remember explaining to them about her friendship with Leo earlier already. Didn't they listen back then?

"You are so lucky! He's very handsome!" Lavender cooed.

"And _rich_," Parvati added helpfully. "So many good-looking boys end up in our house! Like Dean Thomas."

"Ryota's very pretty, too. I can't believe, I'm going to school with _the Ryota Kise_! Too bad I can't tell my other friends about our school!" Bonnie sighed dreamily.

Harry and Aoife glanced at each other as the three other girls giggled, and her blond friend just shrugged. Without turning around, Harry could even _hear_ Hermione's exaggerated roll of her eyes.

Eh, as she mentioned before, she knew Leo was _pretty_. She might be eleven but she wasn't blind. But there was no need to lose brain cells over someone's attractive features…. Right?

Ignore the other girls' byplays, Harry continued. "Anyway, these bottles are going to last me for a few years already. I don't know if they have expiration dates or not. Do you two want ones, too? I already gave one to Aoife a while ago."

"And I barely used it! Thanks Merlin!" Aoife as she skipped toward the bathroom with her toiletries.

"Here, each of you takes one." Harry picked a bottle in each hand and offered it to the girls. Parvati and Bonnie looked down at it, eyes sparkled. Both of them accepted them giddily.

"Wow, Thank you!" Parvati gushed and took the bottle.

"You're so kind!" Bonnie said with a bright smile.

"No problem, you just need a drop on your brush. Every day and night, if your hair is as bad as mine. Although, there's warning for red-haired—"

"A unique result, I wonder what it is?" Bonnie squinted her eyes as she read the label.

"I have no idea. But maybe try it on the weekend, yeah?"

"Good idea, thanks again!" The girls went back to their respective beds. Harry went back to brushing her hair, just then she caught Hermione, whose eyes still fixed on the new bottle that Harry just broke the seal open.

"Want one, Granger?" Harry asked teasingly. The girl startled and flushed at being caught staring.

"No." She sniffed haughtily and pulled the curtains around her bed shut.

"Wow, I don't know what you did to her, mate. But she seems to be holding a grudge." Aoife commented quietly just as she came back out from the bathroom, already changed into her pajamas.

"Believe me, I want to know that, too." Harry sighed, finished brushing her hair.

"Well, folks, it's been fun! But I'm beat. So, nighty night!" Aoife said out loud for everyone to hear as she slid into her four-poster bed, a few of them gave muffled replies. Her blond friend promptly shut the curtains.

After Aoife, the other girl seemed to get into their own bed after changing as well. In less than ten minutes, the whole room was silent, all except for the steady sounds of soft snores.

Harry slid into her own bed and sighed. The sheet was warm and comfortable, suddenly she felt the coils in her body loosened up a bit and her eyelids became heavier than before. Her thoughts wandered to her long-time friend, probably already sleeping in his own bed in the boys' dormitory.

They both had made it, Harry reminded herself. Both of them would be sharing the same house for the next seven years. For a moment during the sorting began, she was so afraid when the Sorting Hat insisted that she would have made a great Slytherin. It only relented and put you in Gryffindor after her stubborn persistence.

"Hey, Mum, Dad," She whispered softly to no one. "I've made it. I'm a Gryffindor just like you were." There was a little droplet brimming in the corner of her green eyes. She quickly wiped it away. Her voice trembling a little. "I hope…. I hope you are proud of me."

Harry closed her eyes and let herself sank into the bed. Before she knew it, Harry fell into a deep sleep.

Perhaps it was because of how much food she had consumed; Harry had a very vivid dream. In the dream, she was wearing Professor Quirrell's turban, which kept talking to her, telling her that the hat had made a mistake. That she was supposed to transfer to Slytherin, at once. Somewhere in there, was Draco Malfoy and his pug-faced girlfriend, the hook-nosed Snape, who laughed and laughed at her. Until the laughter changed into something cold and familiar, there was a flash of green light and Harry startled awake. Sweating, and shaking.

Taking in a shaky breath, she rolled over and pull the sheet up to her chest. When she woke the next, she didn't the dream at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Ps ::** So, to recap, here are Harry's housemates;  
**Girls:** Lavender Brown, Bonnie Darlington, Hermione Granger, Aoife Hawke, Parvati Patil, Harry Potter.  
**Boys:** Leonis Black, Seamus Finnigan, Ryota Kise, Tetsuya Kuroko, Neville Longbottom, Dean Thomas, Declan Troy, Ronald Weasley.
> 
> Do not worry, if you don't remember the new characters yet, we will be learning along with Harry as she goes.
> 
> And here are 3 characters that I borrowed from other fandoms.  
**Tetsuya Kuroko and Ryota Kise;** the two that I blatantly borrowed from Kuroko's Basketball, but with new background stories. (Don't worry there will be no basketball involved, I just use the characters.)
> 
> **Aoife Hawke;** I actually based her from Dragon Age 2 female protagonist. Her canon name was Marion Hawke, but I changed it to Aoife. (In case you didn't know, it pronounces similar to Ava.) This time I took her whole family. Her parents- Malcolm and Leandra. Her twin siblings- Bethany and Carver. I have to change her background story a bit to fit with HP'verse.
> 
> Unfortunately, Ron will not be Harry's besties in this story. I can not see his personal beliefs and preconceptions clashing too well with Leo's family name. You will see over the course of the story how it affects everything else. As for Hermione, well…. The girl is high-strung for the moment. She will need to calm down a little bit. But I promise I'm not bashing her in any way.
> 
> Well, that's it! I hope this didn't turn anyone off too much. If it did, then I'm sorry. All I can say is that I won't be changing it. The story is already plotted too far ahead to change now. Let me know what you guys think! Until then stay safe, or come say hi to me on twitter!


	9. Year 1 Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First week of school commences. Both Leo and Harry continue to make more friends and enemies alike.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Disclaimer ::** Same as Chapter 1.
> 
> **Warning ::** Fem!Harry. Crossover. AU. No Beta, we die like men. My grammar is as bad as house-elf. This is not a fix-it story, something will be better and something will be worst. This fic is also cross-posted on FF.net.
> 
> **A/N ::** Here we are, Chap 9 already?! Well without further ado, enjoy!

**Chapter 9 :: Year 1 Part 4  
Dingbats in the dungeon.**

“There, look.”

“Where?”

“Between the blonde girl and that tall boy.”

“The one with crown braided?”

“Can you see her scar?”

“She’s tiny! I thought she’d be taller.”

“Wait isn’t that Sirius Black’s son, next to her?”

“Oh, Merlin! Did the poor girl even realize who he is?”

“Yeah, _she_ does.” Leo heard Harry muttered irritably as they walked past the upper-year Ravenclaws whispering about them. The older students stopped their gossiping when they realized Harry had heard of what they say. In the same instant, their eyes moved to her scar as their mouths hung open. And Harry—who had learned in short, several days that ignoring them wasn’t going to stop this behavior, gave them a strained smile. 

The older students gasped and flushed—to them, no mattered how forced a smile was, it was still a smile, after all. Some people only saw what they wanted to see. They quickly went on their way after that.

Harry let out a very unladylike snort and said smugly. “Succeeded!”

“Told you!” Ryota—or just Ryo as the boy insisted they called him—chirped in from his other side. “Ignoring them will just make them talk about you even more. Smiling and acknowledging them that you’ve heard them, will always make them pause, and stop talking, at least for a little while.”

“How about permanently?” Harry asked hopefully.

“Beggars can’t be chooser, Scarface,” Leo told her astutely.

Aoife sniggered as Ryo shook his head with a sympathetic smile. “You are going to need a miracle for that.”

“If only it worked for Malfoy and his minions,” Harry commented and hiked up the satchel on her shoulder.

“Those Slytherins are beyond help, I’m afraid,” said Leo.

“Truer words were never spoken.” Aoife nodded sagely. Before the four of them snickered.

Whispers had been following Harry ever since the next morning they had come down for breakfast. Students, both the same and upper years would line up, outside the classroom craning their necks, just to have a glimpse of her—gawking, staring. Even though both of them had anticipated this. It might have become worse when Harry refused to hide her infamous scar.

“I told you, my mother sacrificed her life for this. I’m _not_ going to be ashamed of it.” She repeated the sentiment once more. Harry had said the same thing years ago when the Dursleys had made her hide the scar.

As a result, Harry’s face became strained more and more as the whispers followed them. It wasn’t until Ryo suggested the aforementioned tactic to Harry that the whispers started to lessen. People still talked about her, however, and sometimes about Leo as well. It wasn’t until Harry startled them out of it by smiling back at her gossipers/gawkers. Some were so unnerved they forget how to talk altogether.

Harry looked down at her wristwatch, “Five more minutes, ugh. And I still have no idea where we are.”

“Please don’t ask me about direction. You know I’ve been just following along wherever you lot go.” Ryo said unhelpfully.

“Is it bad to admitted the same thing?” Aoife said unabashedly. “I told you I have no sense of direction.”

Leo clicked his tongue and nudged them forward. “I sometimes wonder, how would the three of you get anywhere without me shepherding you like sheep? This way, we’ll take this stair then turn right at the landing.”

“_Baaaaa!_” Harry and Aoife made a mocking sheep sound. Ryo snickered as they continued making their way to the next class.

Hogwarts itself was already a wonder—a frustratingly confusing wonder. The story from his father’s diary was nothing compared to the real thing as Leo had learned.

There were so many staircases that they had stopped counting, they were all kinds; wide, narrow, sweeping, rickety, just to name a few, some led to a different corridor on a different day of the week. All done by Magic itself. The doors were just as crazy, some wouldn’t open if you haven’t asked politely and some just pretending to be a solid wall.

It took him several days to learn the layout. Harry was usually good at navigating, she did fine at Grimmauld Place. But Hogwarts was another playing field altogether. Aoife wasn’t lying she said that she had no sense of direction and would have been hopelessly lost if Leo hadn’t practically dragged them to places. And Ryo whom Leo had noticed had eyes for finer details, became so engrossed at his surrounding to actually remember where to go.

Normally he would have drawn them a map already if the place wasn’t this barmy. In fact, Leo recalled that Sirius and his friends had made a map of the school, but it was confiscated by the caretaker on their seventh year. Hmm, maybe once they became more familiar with this place, a raid on the caretaker office was warrant?

The other ghosts aside from Sir Nick were nothing helpful when asked for help with directions. Most just stared blankly at them before floated away without answering. Peeves, on the other hand, took every opportunity to prank any students, all Houses were equal to him. But as days passed, the four of them discovered the hard way, there was someone worse than their resident poltergeist.

Filch, the caretaker, and his feline partner in crimes—Mrs. Norris, who found them at the entrance of the out-of-bounds corridor while they were looking for Charms classroom. He would not believe that they were lost and threatened to hang them up on the dungeon walls before Professor Quirrell—who happened to be passing by, came to their rescue.

It seemed that their M.O. was, Mrs. Norris would patrol the corridors alone. If and when she found any students where they weren’t supposed to be, or break any rules with her within the vicinity, she’d whisked off for her master, who would magically appear, wheezing, a few seconds later. There were rumors, that Filch knew all the secret passages within the castle and could walk through walls like a ghost—however, the Weasley twins vaguely denied it. Although, they hadn’t told them which one of them was false.

The classes themselves though were very interesting. From their pre-Hogwarts education, both he and Harry knew that there was more to magic than just waving your wands and said silly words like most would assume. There was no actual class for Magical Theory, however. Despite having a separate coursebook, the subject was taught by both Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick equally as they were the basis of any spell-work which existed both in Transfiguration and Charms. 

Every Wednesday night, they had gone to the highest tower in Hogwarts, to study the stars and their movements through telescopes. Twice a week, they went to the greenhouse behind the castle for Herbology with a squat-looking witch named Professor Sprout—who also happened to be Head of Hufflepuff; where they’d studied how to take care of strange plants and fungi, and learned what they would be used for. Ryo announced without shame, that this was his least favorite because of all the dirt and mud they had to deal with.

History of Magic seemed interesting at first glance but had turned out to be the most boring class, even for an attentive mind like Leo’s. The most exciting thing was that it was taught by a ghost, Professor Binns. And that was it. The lesson itself was droned on an on by Professor Binns, in a monotonic voice, he also often got the names mixed up, could it be the side-effect of being dead? Leo wasn’t sure. After the first fifteen minutes, only a quarter of the class was left awake—Hermione, of course, took notes feverishly as she trying to stay conscious. Harry had all but nodded off with her head behind her textbook. Ryo fell asleep, sitting straight, he looked perfectly still as if he hadn’t fallen asleep at all. Aoife was, much to his surprise, still awake, and doodled in her notebook instead of listening. Neville drooled more than once. Ron had almost fallen off his chair once or twice if it weren’t for Dean pulling him back. Leo, instead, took this opportunity to start on his Astronomy essay, even then it was still hard not to fall asleep. He might have to bring some kind of earplugs next time to shut out Professor Binns’s droning voice, He’d never missed Caffeine so much in his life.

At Charms, they found out that the tiny wizard with bowl-cut hair was none other than Professor Flitwick—Head of Ravenclaws. At their first class, he stood on the top pile of books and took the roll call. When paused when Leo’s name came up and took a long look at him. When it was Harry’s turn, however, he squeaked excitedly, almost topple off from his makeshift podium. 

Harry had profusely whispered that she would want to send Aunt Lucretia and thank-you letter for making them reading all their textbooks beforehand. Because it had helped them advancing along easier than the rest of them (except Hermione), especially in Charms. Even someone who came from a pureblood family; like Neville and Ron had a hard time on their casting. But no one was worse than Seamus Finnigan who often set himself or someone and something nearby on fire from mispronouncing the spells. After the third time, everyone—even Dean and Ron—moved their seats away from the Irish boy in fear of being the next fire hazard.

Even with all the mishaps happened, Charms seemed to become one of Harry’s favorite subjects. Though, Leo had thought it was because of the carefree nature of the class itself. 

The most disappointed class, though, went to Defense Against the Dark Arts or DADA for short. Both Leo and Harry had been looking for forwarding to it more than any others. Because the reading materials showed them just enough about fighting against Dark Creatures and Dark Magics. But Professor Quirrell turned out to be a bit of a joke. His stuttering had gotten annoying after the first fifteen minutes. When he wasn’t bumbling around, startled at every dark corner of the classroom, he was mumbling to himself.

Not to mention, his classroom smelled like garlic, also his turban. Some upper years told them that he was trying to ward off a vampire he’d met in Romania and was afraid would be back to get him one of these days. As for the smelly turban, rumors said it was given to him as a thank-you gift from some African prince for fighting off zombies. Leo thought it was a little dubious because when Seamus asked Professor Quirrell about the zombie, he went pink and changed the subject toward the weather instead. 

Leo wondered how someone like him was accepted at a teaching position. But realized that maybe the Headmaster didn’t really have a choice when Leo wrote Aunt Lucretia his observation. She wrote him back that no one had wanted the DADA position ever since 1980, a lot of people believed it was cursed somewhat. And that Quirrell wasn’t this before his trip to Albania. It seemed he was an alright teacher before, though he was teaching Muggle Studies and not DADA. Something must have traumatized him on his trip then. If so, the man should be seeing a mind-healer, not teaching in a school full of children.

At least, the coursebook he had assigned was quite good. The students could self-study from the book and they could still get good grades on writing the essays.

And then, there was Transfiguration which was taught by their Head of house. Professor McGonagall proved to be just as strict as she appeared, in their first class, she stared down at her own House and gave them a talking-to as soon as everyone was in their seats.

“Transfiguration is one of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts,” She said sternly. “Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned.”

Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again, showing off her prowess. Everyone clapped at the demonstration, both impressed and intimidated by their Head of House. All seemed excited to get starting but soon found out that they wouldn’t be transfiguring any furniture into animals any time soon. Instead, the first half of the class was filled copying down with theories from the blackboard the professor had provided without a single complaint. When the second half came, they were given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle.

Transfiguration turned out to be the most challenging class for him, a change of pace Leo had welcomed. The subject worked by applying both theory and practical closely to achieve the desired results. Different from Charms, where the precision of both hand movements and casting were required. Transfiguration depended largely on the imagination and the strength to enforce one’s will as well as casting. It was like science with more brainpower plus tenacity of will. No wonder Professor McGonagall was said to be a Transfiguration prodigy, she had the nerves of steel from what he had observed so far.

“Very good, Mister Black, five points to Gryffindor.” Professor McGonagall announced at five minutes before the bell rang, she stood next to his and Harry’s table, checking everyone’s result for the day. Their Head of House picked up the object to inspect, using a tip of her finger to test the pointiness, before setting it down. “Work more on the metal texture next time. It’s very pointy, at least.”

There was something in the Professor’s eyes as she praised his work, Leo could not tell what it was. Because it only happened a second before she moved on to check on Harry’s match—which turned silver but still retain its original shape of a match. Nevertheless, she gave her small praise for the effort. His friend let out a relieved sigh as the witch went to the next seats.

“Work on the pointiness, but the color looks very close, Miss Granger.” The professor said to the big-hair girl. Hermione’s smile froze when she realized her match-needle wasn’t the best one in class. Professor McGonagall completely ignored her strained face and went to check on Neville’s who sat next to Hermione. She gave his work a flat stare before telling him to work harder on applying the theory, since his match stayed just as it had been, with no change at all. Neville went pink but said nothing.

“I think you pissed her off,” Harry whispered to Leo when Professor McGonagall went out of the earshot.

Leo glanced over at the brown hair girl several seats over, who glared openly at the both of them. Leo just shrugged, but Harry couldn’t help before grinning and fingers-waved back at her. The girl gave one last huff and went back to check her notes. Neville pretended he couldn’t see either of them.

“And now she just pissed off at you,” He told Harry truthfully. “Maybe you should stop poking at her buttons.”

“As if that will work,” his friend just snorted. “She got this idea in her head that I was trying to compete with her.”

It was true. For some unknown reason, Hermione Granger took it upon herself to compete in all classes with Harry. Whatever it was that had ticked the girl off during the train ride had seemed to enforced the idea further.

Harry said that she had thought it was funny at first that the other girl picked her as a potential rival instead of someone more knowledgeable in the wizarding world, like Leo—who did much better than Harry in class. Aoife said that maybe Hermione didn’t count Leo because he was a boy, thus he belonged into a different category. Harry then retorted that, if it was like that, then the girl should have to pick Aoife who was more worldly than her, or Parvati—another pureblood who actually knew a lot when she wasn’t giggling about boys and nonsense.

But after every class they had, and Hermione’s constantly shoving her hand in the air trying to gain more points than Harry, it became somewhat annoying for his friend. So, in turn, Harry would one up Hermione any chance she got without permanently lifting her hand in class for answering. Instead, she focused on the practical part—which showing result in itself, like what had just happened.

After several days, Leo finally realized the possible reason why Hermione acted that way toward Harry.

Hermione Granger was disappointed in Hariel Potter—_The_ Hariel Potter, she’d read about in all her books. _That_ Hariel Potter was supposed to be the next great witch after Albus Dumbledore. Instead, all she got was this skinny eleven years old, with abysmal manners—Well, to be fair, Harry did have manners, but she only deployed the use of them when she felt like it. Coupled with the sarcastic sense of humor, almost flippant sometimes.

Leo vaguely recalled the first time they encounter the girl during the bus ride to Grimsditch Summer Camp. He and Harry weren’t even friends back then. Afterward, the two girls had shared a dorm room, it happened almost every summer they went to the camp. But Harry had nothing but complain about this bossy girl named Harmony who always nagged at her about something or others.

Now that he thought about it, did Harry really forget the girl’s name or did she do it on purpose? He wouldn’t put it past her if it was the latter. 

“I don’t know _what_ or _who_ she believed me to be,” Harry said later that night as they finishing their essays.

“I think you shattered the image she had of you in her mind. You know, those series of books that used your name, saying you did something or others…” Leo offered his opinion or part of what he thought it was.

“Doing what? Wrestling a troll and won or something?”

“You mean, you didn’t?” Ryo teased, looking up from the book.

“I’m eleven and raised by muggles! Where the heck would I find a troll to fight?” She scoffed. “Well, maybe if you count my cousin…”

“I don’t think your very large cousin count as Magical Creature,” Aoife said without looking up from writing.

“Are you sure? I swear he’s as dumb as one!” Harry squinted exaggeratedly.

“It’s really weird how they just used your name in the book like that,” Ryo said, tapping the quill on his parchment. “But since they weren’t really damaging your reputation, I don’t think you can sue them for defamation?”

“I don’t think there is any wizarding law for that,” said Leo. “To compare, Harry is like the muggle version of King Arthur. There’re so many books and alterations of his so-called life. And none of them can actually claim to be the truth.”

“The girl should know better than to believe in fictions,” Aoife offered her opinion. “Not everything written in the books is true.”

“I know it isn’t very logical, but for some people, it doesn’t have to be,” Leo explained as he wrote. “From what I can see, she’s disillusioned. Once she came to terms with it on her own, I’m sure she will come around.”

Just then, the portrait hole swung open, a mob of big curly hair came through. The four of them turned and looked at the girl’s haggard form. Her hair frizzed and became even bigger than before. There were dark circles under her eyes. In her arms were several thick books—possibly just checked out from the Library.

Not too far from where they sat; Bonnie, Lavender, and Parvati snickered among themselves, possibly at Hermione’s peaky look.

The girl stumbled a little bit and flushed. She gave the three girls a black look before her gaze involuntary slid toward where Leo’s group had been sitting. She glared dagger at Harry and quickly stomped away toward the girl’s dorm.

“She needs to loosen up. Seriously,” Harry threw her hands in the air after Hermione disappeared up the girls’ side staircase. “That girl is setting herself up for a mental break down. Just you watch.”

Nobody argued with her on the matters.

The thing with Hermione continued. It didn’t help much that the girl didn’t endear herself to the rest of their housemates either. She openly insulted every wand-work Ron Weasley did, in which the boy retorted harshly in turn. Her stickler-for-rules nature bled over everything she did, even how she expected everyone to behave accordingly to her standards, which seemed to be including her housemates’ manners.

“I only have one mum and she’s not you!” Ron said snidely one night at dinner after the girl scolded him once again, for his sloppy eating habits. Both went pink for different reasons.

The rest of the Gryffindor girls in their year didn’t have much better opinions of Hermione either. While Hermione seemed to find the three girls to be airheads filled with nothing but fluffs, they, in turn, found her to be a snooty, know-it-all. 

“She called me an annoying pest the other night!” Lavender sniffled one night in the common room. Hermione was nowhere to be seen. (Leo suspected she had holed up in the Library.) “Just because we’re _not_ talking about homework for once…”

“She’s just so…. domineering.” Bonnie whispered back, but she didn’t even try hard enough to keep her voice down. “Sometimes, I feel bad for Ron. She keeps scolding him every chance she gets.”

“Please, Ron’s giving as good as he gets.” Parvati retorted. “You’re just saying that because he’s friended with Dean. And you think Dean is cute.”

“Oh, hush.” And then they broke out into giggles.

“Merlin, there are both _right_ about one another!” Harry groaned after hearing the entire conversation.

There were only selected few that Hermione treated kindly; First was Tetsuya Kuroko. The Japanese boy was quiet and mild-mannered. He also treated everyone with some level of respect. Hermione, in return, was less snooty to him than others. They also shared a love of reading books. Hermione also saw him as a well of knowledge to foreign wizarding worlds, which the boy didn’t seem to mind telling her about.

The second was Neville. While she was harsh and snooty with everyone else, she was more amiable and pleasant to him. She sometimes sat with him during class, helping him in a class by whispering correct answers into his ears. Although in Leo’s opinion, the act wouldn’t do Neville much good in the long run, if he couldn’t understand the principles in the first place, there was no way the boy would reach the real conclusion.

Talked about Neville….

He was another matter altogether. The boy was so shy and scared of almost everything around him, all except plants. Leo had seen Harry’s attempted to make conversation with her godbrother on more than one occasion, only for him to startle and ran away before she could say anything else. And didn’t even get him to start on his reaction to Leo. The boy took one look at him and ran away faster than the fastest broom on the market.

He could tell these fruitless occurrences were starting to wear on Harry’s nerves.

**: : : : : :**

On Friday morning, the mood of Gryffindor first years pummeled more than usual. Almost everyone ate at their House table in a somber mood, possibly because of the upcoming lesson they were about to have. There were a lot of rumors flying around, most from their own upper years’ mouths. 

“Double Potions first thing today, and with Slytherins.” Ron groaned from his seat across from them at breakfast. The redhead scowled and stuffed his timetable into his bag and started piling up his plate. “I’ll bet you will feel right at home, Black.”

Ignoring the snide comment from the redhead, Leo continued to sip his morning tea. Harry glared at the other boy on his behalf, but Ron was too busy piling his plate to notice her dark look.

“What’s so bad about it?” Ryo paused peeling his hard-boiled egg. Despite they were all there when Fred and George Weasley told them tales about the Horrible Professor Snape, but just as everything else flying about in this school, he knew better than to actually believe it fully. “Asides from having it with Slytherins, I mean.”

“Snape’s Head of Slytherin House,” said Ron. “They say he always favors them—and worse, George told me he absolutely despised Gryffindors. He always docked points from our House, even more than others.”

“That can’t be true. He’s a teacher for one.” Hermione chimed in from several seats down. “And I think, as long as we do well in class, he can’t deduct any points from us—"

“Well, no one asked what you think!” Ron said harshly and shoveled eggs into his mouth. Hermione’s face turned pink, but before she could say anything else the hoots and squawks from above made them looked up. The mails had arrived. A hundred of owls streamed inside the Great Hall, they circled around looking or their owners before swooped down and delivered the parcels.

The familiar snowy owl dropped down on Harry’s shoulder. Hedwig hadn’t brought her any letters yet, since most already came with Leo’s mail. But Hedwig often showed up at breakfast just to nibbled her owner's ears and to have a piece of bacon or toast before went back to the owlery or the dorm. Today, however, there was something tied to her leg, she stuck it out for her master before going for a piece of bacon after Harry took it from her leg.

Suddenly, Leo felt something heavy dropped on his head and let out a sigh when he realized it was Bruce. The blasted bird, as Leo continued to learn, never landed on his shoulder as Hedwig did with Harry or any other owls that just settled down on the table.

Neville gave out a startling squeak and fell off his seat, even though he wasn’t sitting anywhere near Leo.

Ignoring his friends’ snickering. Leo said with a dignified tone as he could muster, “Bruce, please get off my head. Or I will lock you away from Hedwig,”

Bruce barked in displeasure but lifted off his head fluttered down next to his plate. The bird bent his large avian body down and took a bite of his bacon. His orange eyes glared at him as Bruce chewed on the meat. Leo ran a hand to his messy hair, trying to fix the mess the bird had created. Bruce hooted forlornly at Hedwig; the snowy owl ignored him completely. His owl turned and glared at Harry, who hadn’t pay attention at all to him, instead, she was reading her letter.

“I can’t believe how big your owl is. This doesn’t seem normal…” Ryo commented, he looked warily at the eagle owl who puffed his feathers making himself even bigger than before.

Leo replied calmly, “Bruce doesn’t cope well about being normal, he thinks it’s beneath him.”

“Ahhh!! He’s your owl!!” Ron sputtered, sending strayed pieces of egg flying everywhere. Dean and Seamus scooted away at once. He pointed from across the table. “He tried to eat my Scabbers!!” 

It was a wonder Ron hadn’t realized sooner that Bruce belonged to him. But since his owl seemed to be living in the Girl’s dorm or at the Owlery, Leo thought the boy might have missed it.

Bruce, as Leo had found out, liked to follow Hedwig around. If it weren’t for Harry telling him, he would have to use a school owl to send his letter to Aunt Callisto the other day. At least Bruce flew so fast and came back with a reply the next day—possibly so he could stalk Harry’s owl again.

“What’s a Scabbers?” Aoife asked from her seat.

“He’s Ron’s pet rat,” Dean spoke from next to Ron. “He does nothing but sleep and eats, really.”

“Did he?” Leo said evenly, staring at his owl. “Please, refrain from eating other people’s pets. It’s very impolite.”

Bruce did a creepy two-seventy-degrees-turn—the one that all owls could do with just his head, while his body still facing Leo. The bird stared at the redhead boy until Ron started to squirm in his seat. Satisfied, his owl then turned back, shrugged—or whatever equivalence of shrugging for an owl—and hooted some rubbish at him. Before unrepentantly went for another piece of bacon. 

“There, he understands now.” He lied, knowing fully well his owl would try to take a bite out of Ron’s rat in the future again. Just to get on the redhead’s nerves. He continued to sip on his tea. Ron didn’t look too happy but continued to shovel more food for himself.

After another ten minutes, Hedwig hooted her goodbye and took off with a note tied to her leg. Bruce huffed himself before followed diligently after the snowy owl. Leo just sighed.

“That was Hagrid,” Harry leaned in and told them. “he asked if I want to visit this afternoon since we have some free time. Do you all want to come along with me?”

“I’m cool with that,” Aoife waved her toast in agreement. Leo just nodded his answer.

“He’s that giant you told me about, right?” Ryo asked and took a bit of his toast. Harry nodded and plopped strawberry into her mouth.

“Sure, if we all survived this Potions class, meeting with a half-giant didn’t sound that terrifying anymore.”

“Atta boy!” Harry cheered and slapped Ryo on the back, a little too hard he almost choked on the toast. “Whoops!”

After breakfast, the four of them made their way down toward the dungeons, where Potions class was supposed to take place. It was surprisingly easier to find, as Percy had told them the direction; just followed the torches along the wall. The closer they got, the colder the air became. Ryo was visibly shivering by the time they reached the destination.

Hermione was already there, sitting right up front next to a blonde hair girl name Daphne Greengrass. She’s from Slytherin which was surprising because how much students from that House had teased Hermione just about everything from her hair to her front teeth. But also, because Greengrass was from an old pureblood family. The Greengrass might be neutral during the war but they were also avid Slytherins for generations. 

Leo took a seat at the same table as Harry. While Aoife and Ryo were forced to sit far from them because there wasn’t any table available. Not far from them, Neville to sit with Seamus from the other side. Pansy Parkinson sat together with a large bulky girl that looked like a gorilla. Both of them smirked as he and Harry sat down not too far from them. At least Malfoy and his goons were on the other side of the room.

Harry grimaced and stared down at her mum’s old copy of _Magical Drafts and Potions_, pretending not to hear the sniggering from Slytherins. Leo glanced around checking out the classroom just as he did in other classes.

The room was a large oval shape with walls lined with shelves. Several pickled animals floated in glass jars. Cabinets with faded name plaques sat in one end of the room, next to them was a stone basin with water coming out of a gargoyle’s mouth. The head table, possibly Snape’s, was stacked with books and weird-looking shaped phials. A lone blackboard stood upfront with nothing written on it. Torches were also lit around the room, making the atmosphere even eerier than the corridor outside. Cold air lingered, Leo, wondered if it would be even worse once winter came. 

Suddenly the door slammed open, Snape strode inside, black cloak billowing dramatically behind him—Wow, eat your cape out, Batman! Snape’s would be made for some fierce competition. Whoever Snape’s tailor was, they did a great job of creating the billowing effect. Even his former mentor spent good hours making his cape fluttered dramatically just so.

The chatter suddenly stopped. Even the Slytherins hadn’t dared interrupted his _entrance_. The pale man waited no more, and like Professor Flitwick, he started by taking a roll call.

_Here comes the moment of truth…._

The man sneered when he called Leo’s name but did not linger. However, he came to a pause at Harry’s name.

“Ah, yes,” said He. “Hariel Potter. Our new—celebrity.” 

Several Slytherins—including Malfoy, Parkinson, and their cohorts sniggered behind their hands. Even without looking at his friend, he could hear her jaw clenched and her eyes hardened. Snape continued with the roll call until every name was called.

“You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making,” he announced right afterward, his voice barely a whisper, as his cold dark eyes swept through every face in the room. “There is little foolish wand-waving or silly incantations in this class. As such, I don’t expect many of you will really understand or even appreciate the beauty of softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses….” Snape glided forward through the spaces between tables. “I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death—if you aren’t as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach.”

More silence followed, most seemed unsure of what to respond. In his opinion, potion-making sounded a little like cooking combined with chemistry, with more precision and weirder ingredients. Leo noticed Hermione almost twitching in her seat, as if desperate to prove that she wasn’t a dunderhead. Harry exchanged a glance with him briefly before Snape began again.

“Potter!” The man said suddenly. “What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?”

Hermione’s hand shot up in the air. Leo knew that Harry knew of the corrected answer, they had just a read-through last night, just in case something like this happened. Both of them were skeptical about having someone like Snape as a teacher. Considering from what Sirius had said that Snape was the type to hold a grudge. It wasn’t too far of anticipation that it might bleed over to Harry and Leo. 

“It’s a type of powerful sleeping potion called the Draught of the Living Death,” With a raised eyebrow, Harry said. The corner of her mouth twitched. Leo knew she was forcing herself not to smirk. Belatedly, she added, “, sir.”

The man’s lips curled into a sneer. “Let’s try again, shall we? See if you’re just lucky to know the answer. Tell me where would you look, if I tell you to find a bezoar?”

Hermione’s hand waved in the air again. This time Harry didn’t even stop herself, a smirk spread across her face. “Well, I’m sure we can find one in these cabinets somewhere,” Snape sneered deepened, but before he could say anything, Harry continued. “Or, of course, you can always get it from inside the stomach of a goat.”

“Black!” Sneering, Snape swung his dark eyes toward Leo. “Why don’t you enlighten us on the use of bezoar? That is of course if you can even answer.”

“Bezoar is used as an antidote to most poison if you swallowed it whole, but in preparation for potions, you grind or crush it into powder before adding into the brew,” Leo said primly as Hermione’s hand hung in the air. It was clear to him now; Snape had been proven not to be mature enough to let the past go.

The room was in utter silence, not even the Slytherins were sniggering. Hermione turned around and glared harder at them. Ignoring his housemate, he sat with his back straight. Both him and Harry shared a knowing, the man already swirled away with his back to both them.

“Potter!” Snape called again. “What’s the difference between monkhood and wolfbane?”

Hermione had stood up along with her hand this time, if she tried tiptoeing, she might even touch the ceiling.

“They’re the same thing, sir. They are also known as Aconite.” Harry’s mouth stretched into a smirk again. She glanced at the bushy-haired girl’s quivering hand, Hermione was on her feet this time in her desperation to be noticed. “But you might want to check with Hermione. Since she seems to know all about it.”

A few people laughed. Ron snorted loudly. Harry winked at Neville whose face even paler under the dungeon light. And, as expected, Snape didn’t take it too well.

“Sit down,” he snapped at Hermione and whirled around to their table once again. “If you think being famous will help you in this class, you are absolutely wrong, Potter! I’ll not tolerate any incompetent in my class!—And why is it that you don’t copy it all down?”

Noises of notes being opened and quills scratching parchments erupted. Both Leo and Harry did so along with their classmates. Over the noise, Snape spoke again. “Two points will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Potter.”

Slytherins sniggered once again, but Snape ignored them completely.

Nothing improved for Gryffindors as the lesson continued. With a flick of Snape’s wand, the instructions of Cure for Boils appeared on the blackboard in front of the class, everyone copied them down even though the recipe was already in _Magical Drafts and Potions_. Snape had them all in pairs as they moved into a small work table. Unfortunately, Leo and Harry ended up sharing the space with Hermione and Greengrass.

“Hey, look at this. The instruction on the board is almost the same as one my mum corrected in her book,” Harry whispered, sliding Lily Potter’s old copy of _Magical Drafts and Potions_ toward him. “Mum must have been good at Potion, huh?”

“It’s possible, she was the smartest witch of her generation after all.” Leo shrugged, ignoring Hermione’s critical eyes that kept sliding toward them. He pushed the counted snake fangs to Harry and said, “Here, crush these. I will heat up the cauldron.”

“Why can’t I be the one to heat up the cauldron?” Harry asked with a mocked scowl, but started adding fang into the mortar, before starting crushing it with the pestle. 

“Because I’m not trusting you near anything flammable. I remember how you promise to set a lot of people on fire before today.” Leo stressed and set up his cauldron as instructed. Harry sniggered at the alarming look coming from both Hermione and Greengrass.

As they worked, Snape swept through the dungeon criticizing everyone but Malfoy, whom he seemed to favor. Both rolled their eyes at the smug look the pale boy was emitting when Snape praised him about the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his slug at the right moment. And then he stopped at their table to sneer at how the color of the smoke wasn’t green enough.

Harry wait until Snape was far enough away before whispered to him. “Not green enough, is he colorblind? What else does he need?”

“Maybe it needs some magic touch,” Leo just shrugged and kept on stirring. It needed only a few more minutes of stewing before had to be taken out of the fire.

“Ohhh, I know one,” rolling the sleeves of her robe up to her elbows, Harry leaned over the cauldron with both her hands. Wiggling her fingers, she whispered with a mock sing-song voice, “_Double, double toil and trouble! Fire burn and cauldron bubble! Cool it with a baboon's blood, Then the charm is firm and good!_ Ohh…look, how _Greeeeeen_,”

“Stop quoting Shakespeare and help me clean up,” Leo elbowed her in the side. Their table-mates gave them a look as if they were a pair of nutters. Harry continued to hum the song along as she cleaning their work station.

Hermione and Greengrass had almost finished theirs when Leo lifted the cauldron down. Harry dropped the quills in quickly and let him stirred five times. Puffs of pastel pink smoke emitted from their cauldron and their potion look a shade between cobalt and steel blue. Well, the book only said it was supposed to be blue, nothing about the shade.

“You think this is the right color?” Harry peered down into the cauldron.

Leo checked the book one more time and shrugged. “Well, I guess. If we’re lucky maybe this time Snape will see color as blue, instead of something else.”

“Well, now you have to go and jinx it,” Harry said airily as she lifted her wand ready to finish their potion. She had just flicked it over the cauldron for the final step when Leo’s eyes caught a movement from Pansy Parkinson— who shared a working table with Neville and Seamus—She lifted something in her hand, her dark bulging eyes flashed maliciously before flicked the item toward Neville’s cauldron, which still bubbling on the fire. Neither Neville nor Seamus were paying attention to their cauldron, both too busy trying to clean up their station after Snape had berated them how sloppy it looked. Leo realized too late that the thing she just tossed from her hand, was a porcupine quill.

The next thing happened so fast, as soon as the quill touched the simmering liquid, it fizzled. A puff of gray smoke floated up along with the horrible odor, and then their cauldron shook violently before it popped. Within seconds, the cauldron melted into a twisted blob, leaving their potion seeping across the table and stone floor. Seamus let out a high-pitched yell when the potion touched his shoes, burning holes into them, several students around their work table jumped on their stools at once. Harry’s reflex kicked in and pulled Leo up their own seats just in time before the mixture on the ground could burn holes into their shoes. Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when their cauldron collapsed, whimpering in pain as red boils sprang all over his arms and face.

“Idiotic boy!” Snape snarled as he stomped over toward Neville and Seamus’s table. “You added the porcupine quills before taking it off the fire, didn’t you?”

Neville could only whimper some more as boils started popping all over his nose. Snape swung his eyes to Seamus who still bouncing away from the spilled potion, still too shock and terrify to reply.

“Take him to the hospital wing!” he spat at Seamus who complied at once. Just as the two boys exit the dungeon, Snape rounded on Harry and Leo. “You two, Black, Potter!—why didn’t you tell him not to add the quill? You thought it’ll make you two looks better if he were to fail, did you? Another two points from Gryffindor!”

Harry opened her mouth to retort. But that wouldn’t help the situation, so Leo elbowed her to zip it. Snape gave them one last glare before pulling out his wand, set out to vanish the spilled liquid.

“But it’s not my fault!” Harry hissed at him, furious.

“’ Course not,” he hissed back and silently nodded toward the culprit.

Harry’s eyes followed his to Parkinson and her gorilla friend, who smirked maliciously back at them, pleased as Punch because her act succeeded two folds—first, she ruined Neville and Seamus’s work, sending them to the hospital wing—second, Harry and Leo were made to look stupid and lost Gryffindor more points.

“Why that little--” Harry hissed something under her breath, before digging into her satchel, pulling out a spare elastic band she used to tie her hair. 

Leo caught the sight of it, knew suddenly what she was planning. “Harry, no—”

“Harry, yes.” Harry picked up the largest piece of their unused horned slug before slipping in between the elastic band before muttered dramatically, “_O, from this time forth, My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!_….”

“Don’t!” Hermione hissed at her from across the table, realizing what she was about to do.

“What is that in her hand? What’s she trying to do?” Leo could hear Greengrass asking Hermione.

She ignored them both, her green eyes darted from Snape—who was on the other side of the room, yelling at Aoife and Ryo for something or others. And then back to Parkinson and her friend who still chattered to one another, not paying attention at their cauldron one bit.

Harry pulled both the slug and elastic band back as far as she could like a slingshot, with a well-aimed accuracy, she let go. The slug catapulted in the air, shot across space between the table before slamming into Parkinson’s cauldron, splashing the liquid everywhere. Parkinson and her large friend screamed in surprise as the hot liquid drenched their clothes and face, but that’s not all it happened. The next second, another horrid smell puffed from the cauldron, along with black smoke.

“What now?!” Snape snarled and swooped toward them once more, cloaking billowing. He looked at the state of the cauldron and the crying students from his own House, he stared coldly and gritted out the words. “Parkinson, Bulstrode, did you perhaps add more slugs than instructed?”

“But…but we didn’t—” The girl whined, boils popping all over her face just like it had on Neville. Leo was forcing himself not to smile—it was childish, sure. But he knew he couldn’t have stopped Harry once her mind was set to do something.

They watched Snape berating Parkinson and her partner about how they had made him look bad in front of another House—namely Gryffindor. Harry almost vibrating with sheer delight next to him as she quickly slid the elastic band under their book, before Snape had a chance to see it.

“It’s……It’s that cow, Potter!! And Black! They did it! I know she--they did!” Pansy wailed and point toward them. Snape followed her finger.

“What could I possibly do, I’m busy with my own work.” Leo lifted both hands in the air, technically he didn’t lie.

Harry blinked innocently with her bright green eyes as Snape’s dark eyes flickered to her. “We’re several feet away from you. What could we _possibly_ have done from all the way over _here_?” Then she flicked her eyes away from the professor to Parkinson, whose face starting to have boils popping up. A smirk stretched across her face, returning it in the same exact one the pug-faced girl and her gorilla friend had given Neville not long before. “Well, that’s not completely true….. Maybe I could have warned you not to put more slug in. But I don’t think you would understand me. You see, I don’t speak _stupid_ very well. How could I possibly understand what you were saying, Parkinson?” 

The room erupted in loud laughter, all of the Gryffindors but Hermione cracked up, even some Slytherin girls did too. Malfoy just stared at them with a gaping mouth. 

“You stupid bint--!!” Parkinson screeched. This time, Snape had enough.

“Shut—up.” He growled at the wailing girl, her mouth suddenly snapped shut as if it was magic away. The room fell into silence. “Go to the hospital wing, the both of you! Get out of my sight!” Snape snarled in disgust, waving his wand again to dissipate the smoke and odor. The door slammed open again as the two girls shot out of the classroom. He didn’t even wait for them to completely vanish when he swung toward their table. Predictable.

“You think you so smart, do you? You would do well _not_ to take after your father, Potter.” He sneered at Harry. “And another point from Gryffindor from useless comments!” Snape turned away from them, glaring at everyone else. “What are you waiting on about? Get back to Work!!”

Both Gryffindors and Slytherins did as commanded at once, returning to the tasks they had been doing before the interruption. Harry bumped her fist with his under the table. Hermione glared at them before stomped off with a phial of her and Greengrass’s finished potion toward the table Snape had set up for finished work to be grade.

“I don’t know if you’re foolish or just being Gryffindors,” Greengrass said quietly as Leo wrote his and Harry’s name on a tag to put on the vial. “The first week hasn’t even finished, and you already made Parkinson your enemy.”

“I thought I already did that on the first day,” Harry replied airily as she ladled the leftover potion into another phial—just in case. 

Greengrass said nothing else afterward. Harry bottled and cogged the caps closed before handing one to Leo, who put their name tag on. She pocketed another as Leo turned their work in.

The rest of the class went on without any more cauldron melting or exploding. Every pair turned in their phials of finished brews which would be returned to the next class. Snape gave them homework; an essay several inches worth about the potion they had made today, discussing the preparations and the uses of it, as well as having them read in advance about different types of cauldron and phials that were used in Potions. When the bell rang, signaling the end of the class, everyone almost bolted out of the door—both Gryffindors and Slytherins.

Leo quickly grabbed Neville’s bag that was left lying on the dungeon floor as they were leaving. He held it out to Harry, “Here, your excuse to talk to your godbrother.”

“Oh man,” Harry’s eyes lit up as she realized the plan. “You’re a genius!”

“I am,” Leo gave her a smug look. “We can go after lunch.”

Neville had been avoiding them since the first day of school. Now, laying injured in a hospital bed, he had nowhere to run. It was a bit ruthless but the boy had made things a bit difficult between them.

“I hope you’re happy with yourself. That’s six points Gryffindor had lost because of you two!” Hermione hissed at them like a snake once they came out of the dungeon level. She didn’t wait for their reply, instead bristly walked away—possibly toward the Great Hall since it was about to be lunchtime.

“She loves having the last word, doesn’t she?” Aoife said as she and Ryo joined them out in the corridor. “Why do you have Neville’s bag?”

“We’re going to visit him later, are you two coming with?” Harry asked,

“I don’t mind, and poor Neville, I hope he’s alright.” Ryo visibly shuddered. “Good thing Snape didn’t pay much attention to us.”

Harry did let out a sigh, “It’s official. Snape does hate both of us. Just as you predicted.”

“That means whatever we do, he will always dock points from us,” Leo added.

“Don’t worry about that!” Ron chimed in not from far behind. He and Dean caught up with them in no time because of their long legs. “What my brother said turn out to be true after all, Snape hates students, especially Gryffindors.” He paused when he noticed Harry’s dejected expression. “And don’t worry about the lost points. He took a bunch of points off Fred and George all the time, nothing new.”

Ron pretended not to see Leo at all. Dean gave him an apologetic look. Well, at least the boy hadn’t started running his mouth again.

“I can’t believe you slingshot Parkinson’s cauldron, right beneath Snape’s nose too.” Dean chuckled.

“Well, considering his nose was pretty large…..” Harry rubbed her chin, Ryo chuckled along with the taller boy.

“Oh yeah! I was going to ask how you did it. Was it a spell? What a slingshot?” Ron asked excitedly.

“Hey, I can’t give away all my secrets!” Harry joked when she realized Ron was carrying an extra bag. “Is that Seamus’s? We’re going to visit Neville after lunch. Do you want us to take it to him?”

Ron looked down at the said bag and shrugged. “Nah, I’ll take it to our dorm after lunch. Seamus didn’t get hurt as Neville did, so I think he’d be back soon anyway.”

“Maybe, you can tell him, if you see him first that we’ll wait for him in the common room after lunch,” Dean added.

“Sure thing,” said Harry. With that, the two boys broke away. Leo let out a long sigh.

Aoife sniggered as if knowing, “Oh man, he’s starting to ignore you now.”

“Good,” said Leo. “I’m starting to get tired of his snide remarks.”

“I still don’t get what his problem is with you,” Ryo commented. “Besides Hermione and Malfoy, he doesn’t have a problem with anyone else.”

“I think it’s the way he grows up, some wizarding families have certain outlooks about others,” Leo explained as they walked. “Some like his taught their children not to associate themselves with certain people. Which ironic, considering the state of his family.”

“Like those purebloods, about muggleborns?” asked Ryo.

“Yes. And my family reputation isn’t always in the best of light. Actually, we were one of the darkest family in Britain.”

“But you aren’t now. I mean, you are a friend with a muggleborn like me. The twins or Percy didn’t seem to have a problem with you either.”

“Let’s just say, Ron’s problem is the same with Malfoy’s, just on the other end of the spectrum,” Harry add helpfully.

“Yes, funnily enough, they are like two sides of the same coin,” said Leo. “But don’t let either of them hear that I’m sure they will deny it.”

The four of them laughed at the mental image all the way until they reached the Great Hall. Leo did a quick sweep with his eyes. There was no sight of either Neville or Seamus, the only first-year at Gryffindor table was Hermione, who already half-way into her lunch. The girl’s brown eyes lifted from a thick copy of _Magical Theory_ to them when the rest of Gryffindor first years arrived. It was just for a brief moment before the girl returned to her book. She didn’t even look up when Ron made noises about lunch not being a place to read. Obviously, trying to ignore the rest of them.

Harry raised an eyebrow at this reaction but still said nothing. Leo just sighed. At this point, the girl clearly not even tried to be friendly anymore. He just hoped what his assessment of Hermione wouldn’t turn out to be right. There was only so much pressure an eleven years old girl could take before she spiraled into a mental breakdown.

He’d just kept his fingers crossed that it wouldn’t turn out to be a Carrie-esque type of breakdown where she magically locked the great hall up and murdered everyone.

**: : : : : :**

Percy had skeptically given them the directions to the hospital wing at lunch, asking Harry if she had gotten hurt in some ways. She, of course, denied it and told the prefect they would be visiting Neville. The fifth-year had let them leave but not before warning them to stay out of trouble. And as pompous as Percy seemed to be, he was still very good at giving out directions. 

The four of them had taken more than half an hour wandered around just to find the place, even with the directions given by Percy and Leo’s stellar memory. All because they’d taken the wrong staircase which led up several floors above, the result was to backtrack to the hall with the marble staircase first before starting over from there. Leo looked a little miffed at this slip-up.

“Oh hey, it’s you lot!” Seamus greeted them with a wide grin just as they reached the hospital corridor.

“Dean and Ron have your bag. They said they’ll wait for you in the common room.” Ryo told the Irish boy before looked at him from head to toes. “By the way, you look quite alright,”

“Oh, it’s just me shoes that need changing,” Seamus wiggled his shoes, there were several burning holes on the bottom of his shoes. “Neville will be alright, Madam Pomfrey said so. Parkinson and Bulstrode came in after us, screaming you did something to her, that’s true?”

“Well, since they were the one tossed the quill in your cauldron, I’ll say they got their just deserts.” Harry crossed her arms nonchalantly. Seamus laughed and slapped her on the back a few times, Harry staggered from the impact but wasn’t offended.

“That’s great! We were so shocked when Tetsuya told us about it!” The boy eyed the clock on the wall. “Blimey, Launch is almost done! I’d better go!” With that, the boy was gone.

“Doesn’t sound like Neville’s seriously injured then?” Aoife commented as they pushed the door open and stepped inside.

The Hospital wing itself took several floors of the hospital tower, but the entrance itself was located on the first floor. Inside the large room, there were about two dozen vintage metal beds with headboards pushed against two walls. In between each bed were movable white screen, several beds toward the back were covered with privacy curtain instead.

It was only the first week of school, but there were already several people here lying on the beds. Harry was surprised that she didn’t see Pansy and her gorilla friend here.

“I don’t see those two,” Aoife looked left and right. Until an older witch dressed in a white apron covering her robe walked out from behind one of the curtains. She had a kind and welcome face. Harry imagined if Florence Nightingale was still alive, she might have looked like this. This must be the matron—Madam Pomfrey.

“Oh, what do you need, dear?” She asked kindly but looked at all of them with critical eyes.

“We are here to visit Neville Longbottom?” Ryo told the matron with a bright smile.

“Oh, him. Mister Longbottom is over there at the last bed on the right, behind the curtain,” said Madam Pomfrey as she pushed the cart filled with small bottles to the other side of the room.

The four of them eyes slid toward the direction, Harry asked worriedly, “Behind the curtain? Is he okay?”

“The boy will be fine, just need time for the salve to work. I expect that you will follow the rule of no loud noises here, yes?” The matron stared pointily at them until they all nodded. “Very good, I will be in my office if you need me for something.”

Without saying anything else, she walked away toward the adjacent room, on the left side. They all craned their neck watching the older witch disappeared behind the door before continued making their way toward the direction she had given him.

And there they found them; Neville, sitting on the bed with a half-eaten sandwich in his hands. His face was covered in grey paste, there were some on his arms and hands. His legs were covered by a thin white sheet, a plate of food in his laps. It was clear the boy was changed out of his uniform for the treatment. Next to his bed was Tetsuya Kuroko, who was sitting on the metal chair with his bag in his laps. Both of them look up from their conversation when they saw their approach.

Neville’s mouth hung open. His gaze flicking from Harry to Leo, and then back to Harry again. He would have dropped the sandwich if it were for the Japanese boy catching it for him in time. Tetsuya put the sandwich on the plate but moved it away from Neville’s laps to the end table by the bed.

“Hey, Neville. Hi, Tetsuya!” Harry waved at the two boys one they came to a stop at the end of the boy’s bed. Neville went paler than before while Tetsuya’s face twitched at the use of his first name. But politely gave them a half-bow from his seat.

“Hello, everyone.” The quiet boy replied, but he had not moved from his seat.

“Wh—what are you doing here?” She heard Neville whispered.

“We are here to visit you, of course!” Aoife said with a smile. Ryo waved at him as well.

“W—why?” Neville’s eyes went wide in disbelieve. “A-are you here to laugh—to laugh at me, too?”

“Longbottom-san, I do not think Potter-san and her friends are here for that.” The Japanese boy said. His tone gentle as if he was talking to a scared rabbit. Harry’s finger twitched at the boy’s usage of everyone’s last name.

Tetsuya had refused, saying it wasn’t polite, since they were not close friends, even after everyone in their year insisted that the boy could call them by their first names, including Ryo. (But that might because he wasn’t from a pure Japanese household, and had spent half of his life outside of Japan.) After a few days, everyone gave up trying to have him call them by their first name. Instead, all the Gryffindor first-years decided to just keep calling him Tetsuya until the boy did the same for them.

Ah well, if the boy wanted to be polite, Harry said, let him. Merlin knew they needed someone to counter-balance the absolute sloppiness that was Ron Weasley. Besides, they were dealing with Neville at the moment. One hill at the time!

“Why would we be laughing at you?” Harry reminded herself to keep her voice as gentle as possible, and not to sound like she was accusing him. “We are worried about you.” She took off Neville’s bag and lifted it in the air. “We’re here to give you this since I didn’t see anyone grab it for you. I’m sure you don’t want to visit Snape’s classroom again so soon.”

“I was going to do it but I saw Black-san picked it up,” Tetsuya offered. 

“But…” The other boy stared at his bag. His eyes flicked toward Leo who stood at Harry’s back. Without even glancing back to her friend, she knew what kind of face he was making from Neville’s frightening expression. That stupid, cold, blank face he had been putting on lately.

Harry elbowed him the guts, Leo grunted before clearing his throat. “Yes, I’m sorry if I gave out the impression that we wanted to make fun of you.”

“Leo may look intimidating, but he’s a softy inside!” Aoife piped in.

Leo scowled at her. “I assure you that I am not.”

“I was a little scare of him when I met him on the train too!” Ryo added his opinion. “And let me tell you a few minutes before that, some upper-year Slytherins just threw my trunk out in the corridor and told me to find another compartment. I had to drag my trunk all the way to the end of the train! And then he was, He had this cold, detached look on his face,” You tried to mimic Leo’s expression, but a little bit on exaggerate side. “I was so scared of him! I thought he was going to throw me out too! And then I found out Harry was scarier than him! She was ready to bite my head off! And Leo ended up defending me!”

Everyone laughed at that, even the corner of Neville’s mouth lifted a little.

Harry started again, this time with a firmer voice. “Look, I know people say things about how dark the Blacks are, and I do not dispute that. Heck, even his house-elf still sometimes called me filthy halfblood,”

Neville gasped after hearing that. “But…. But you are _Hariel Potter_!” 

“Kreacher is a little bit overzealous,” Leo tried to say.

“Well, he’s right. I _am_ a halfblood. I would not have known anything about our world at all before coming to Hogwarts if it wasn’t for Leo.” Harry waved her hand, “My point is, we want to be your friend, Neville. I don’t care if your family thought you were a squib. Or that you don’t know all the answers when you get called in class. Not even when you can’t cast spell right. All of that is not important to make me when I want to be friends with someone.”

“And…and you want to be my friend?” Neville's eyes flicked toward Leo again.

“We don’t have to be the best of friends, right away,” said Leo. “But it might be better than having you run away from us every time we walk past you.” 

Neville looked quite embarrassed at that but there was a small shy smile on his face. “I…I’d like that.”

“Great!” Harry clapped her hands and smiled at the round-face boy.

Harry decided not to bring up about them being godsiblings just yet. She wasn’t sure he knew about it or not. Besides Neville was still skittish around her with Leo around. Maybe once the boy realized that her best friend wasn’t as crazy as all the Blacks seemed to end up, maybe she would tell him then. They had seven years together after all.

Shyly Neville spoke again. “So, did you lot really throw a slug in Parkinson’s unfinished potion? I was so surprised when she showed up here not long after us. She kept yelling that it was your fault, until Madam Pomfrey threatening to knock her out. And then Tetsuya mentioned the mishaps briefly,” 

That brought a vicious smirk back on her face. Aoife giggled behind her hand. Ryo looked a bit apprehensive but she didn’t miss the curve of his lips. Leo held both his hands up and said. “Technically, I had nothing to do with it, besides pointing out that it was her that tossed a quill in your cauldron. It was all Hariel’s doing.”

Neville’s eyes widened after hearing that. Tetsuya looked at her passively, after all, he was there and possibly saw what happened himself.

“That pug _bitch_—” Harry hissed, but Leo coughed to cover her use of name-calling. He elbowed her before nodding toward Madam Pomfrey who had finally come out from her office to tend to an upper-year Ravenclaw. The older boy had slugs running down his nose. Harry clicked her tongue at the interruption. “—that witch shouldn’t have bloody—ow!” another elbow to the side. “Fine!—She shouldn’t mess with anyone’s potion. Least of all our friends. That cow’s lucky I hadn’t shoved her head into the fire instead….. Now that I think about, maybe I’ll save that for the next time she tries to screw with us.”

“Hariel, we had this talk. No setting anyone on fire.” Leo pointed playfully at her.

“Well, technically, I wouldn’t be the one setting the fire, I’ll just push her head into the already lit flame—"

“See what I told you,” Ryo leaned over toward Neville and faux whispered to him. “She’s scarier than Leo!” From the ill-look Neville was giving her, it seemed he agreed with Ryo on that.

“By the way, Potter-san—” Tetsuya turned and looked at her. “I’m surprised that you read Shakespeare. You quoted him twice.”

“Oh? You even hear that…well,” Harry smiled sheepishly. “To be honest, I never really read his full works. That’s Leo’s hobby. I just like reading some of his quotes, so I can annoy him.” She pointed her thumb over her shoulder at Leo.

“In other words, she’s being unnecessarily dramatic,” Leo said drolly, and everyone laughed again, the mood positively lightened up a bit.

Just then the bell rang, signaling the start of the afternoon class. Madam Pomfrey wandered back to check on Neville, she gasped in exasperation after noticing excessive gray gob sliding off the boy’s face, a second later more gooey paste was slathered on his exposed skin once more. The Matron then proceeded to tell them it was their time to go since she’d wanted Neville to stay as still as possible that meant no more talking. 

Tetsuya announced that he would be his homework in the library, and would pick Neville up when Dinner time came. The group said their goodbye and departed from the hospital wing.

The four of them decided to take their time finding their way to Hagrid’s hut. It was their first opportunity to explore the castle without time-restriction being held over their head. The half-giant had given vague directions to Harry; ‘From the Clock Tower courtyard, follow the wooden bridge out until you see the pumpkin patch.’ He didn’t tell Harry how to get to the said courtyard, however. And after twenty minutes of going around in circle between the third and second floor. They had almost pulled their hairs out in frustration if it weren’t for a third-year Hufflepuff who stepped in and helped them.

“You’re almost there, just don’t take any stairs up. From here, take the first right from this corridor, keep going until you see the entrance to the courtyard, you can’t miss it.” The older boy told them. He was also very pretty to look at. Harry might have stared at him a little bit too long.

Until Leo elbowed her in the side. Harry flushed and said her gratitude. “Thanks, er…”

“Oh, I’m Cedric, Cedric Diggory.” The boy introduced himself and offered his hand.

“Hariel Potter.” Harry gingerly shook his hand.

“I know.” Cedric Diggory smiled and nodded, making Harry feel a little bit foolish. At least, the other boy hadn’t even gawked at her once, well he might have flicked his gray eyes toward Harry’s scar quickly but that was it.

“Oh,” Harry said lamely, letting go of the older Hufflepuff.

The boy turned his attention to her friends, who surprisingly had been quiet the entire exchange. “And you are…?”

“Hi!” Aoife was the first to say anything by letting out a surprisingly out-of-character squeak. Harry and the rest of her glanced at the blond in amusement. “I’m me….I mean, I’m Aoife, um…Aoife Hawke. That’s me. Haha!”

Before Leo or Ryo could introduce themselves, Diggory’s friend called for him, the boy shouted back a reply and turned to both of them again. “Well, it’s nice to meet you all. Good luck!”

“Thanks again for your help!” Harry called after as the boy jogged away to join the rest of his friends. Aoife craned her neck after Diggory’s retreating back and let out a long sigh.

“Wow…..” She sighed dreamily again, freehand fanning her face.

“Yeah, _wow_…. you are turning into _Lavender_,” Harry commented with a smirk on her face.

“As if you were staring at him too!” Aoife gave her a mock sneer, before turning to the other two boys. “You guys saw that too, right?”

“Please leave us out of this.” Leo held up both of his hands.

Ryo added, “What he said,”

“Traitors!”

“Let’s just go.” Harry swung her satchel, purposely hitting Aoife in the back. The blond girl staggered sideways.

“Ow! Why you little—” She growled but Harry already darted away, laughing, down the corridor Diggory had pointed out for them earlier. Leaving a sighing Leo and laughing Ryo to trail after them.

Following directions that the third-year Hufflepuff had given them, they easily found themselves at the courtyard entrance in less than ten minutes. The antique fountain sat in the center of the cloister surrounded by eagle statues. This part seemed to be the older part of the castle from the look of dilapidated walls and ceilings. There were quite a number of older students hanging around here. As soon as the four of them stepped in, most of the students looked up from whatever they were doing and gaped when they saw Harry, some elbowed and tugged at their friends, whispering soon followed like a plague. 

“There’s the exit.” Ryo pointed to the opposite end of the cloister.

“Let’s go,” Harry muttered, lifted her chin stubbornly. She didn’t stop and smile at anyone like she had been doing the last several days. All these attentions were starting to wear on her last nerves. Harry walked as fast as possible without breaking into a run, making her way toward the exit on the opposite side. Her three friends easily kept up with her paces without saying anything else, possibly sensing her mood.

The wooden bridge laid across the deep ravine below. Despite the sagging and rickety appearance, the wooden boards never once creaked or groan as they made their way across, perhaps magic had something to do with its durable state. It was quite a long walk to the other side, but the scenery was more than made up for, despite the cold autumn wind. This was the first time the four of them were out on the castle ground. Harry didn’t count the greenhouse where they had Herbology, since it was technically still in-bounds. So, they took their time checking out the landscape outside. Harry took a moment to turn around and looked back at the castle, finally realized how grand and big Hogwarts really was.

Sure, she had seen it from the black lake when they arrived on the boat. But now during daytime when she could see all the walls, towers, and battlements of Hogwarts, in all its glory. And it was nothing short of breathtaking. Something inside her still hardly believed that she’d made it here to study magic, _real_ magic, with her best friend. This place had once housed her parents for seven years of their lives. Her parents had once roamed these ground and halls learning about magic just like she was doing now.

It was still hard to believe all of it was real. This beautiful scenery, however, had helped to solidify all the proves she’d ever needed.

The bridge came to the end at a small stone gazebo lined with benches. There was a small stone circle that reminded Harry of Stonehenge just outside.

“There, the pumpkin patch!” Ryo said helpfully, pointing down the slope where a large patch was located. Next to it was a wooden hut with smoke floating out of the chimney. From where she stood, Harry spotted another smaller hut connecting to the larger one on the side. This must be the hut Hagrid had told her about.

Without wasting any more time, the four of them trotted downward the small hill without tumbling down and making fools of themselves. As they got closer, Harry realized that the house itself sat on the edge of the forbidden forest, the line of trees only several feet away, Dumbledore’s start-of-year warning about the danger of the said forests echoed through her mind.

Well, it couldn’t be so bad, could it? Hagrid had been living here by himself, hadn’t he? Harry thought to herself but suddenly starting to retract that statement when she noticed a large crossbow and a can of ‘Flesh-eating Slugs Repellant’ sitting by the pumpkin patch gates.

“Those’re some shoes.” Ryo whistled. Harry’s eyes followed his gaze to the aforementioned pair of galoshes bigger than the size of her head sitting by the front step. “Shaquille O’Neal had nothing on Hagrid.”

“While it’s true, I’m not sure Hagrid knows how to play basketball,” Leo commented dryly just as Harry knocked on the door.

There was a frantic scrabbling from inside and several loud barks, Hagrid’s voice followed, saying, “_Back_, Fang—Back!”

Hagrid’s hairy face peeked out from the crack of the door when he pulled it open, at the same time struggled to pull back an enormous black boarhound.

Harry stepped through the door first, followed closely by Aoife and Ryo, with Leo came in last. The four of them looked around in amazement. Especially, Ryo, who had never seen inside of a wizard home before. There were one big room and a connecting doorway leading to a smaller part of the house. The fireplace crackling with fire, there was a copper kettle hanging over the flame. Hams and pheasants, along with some other equipment Harry had no idea what their names were hung from the ceiling. In the corner, sat a large beaten-up armchair, next to it was a basket and bowl of water. 

“Make yerself at home,” said Hagrid, gesturing for them to take a seat on one of the wooden chairs. He let go of Fang, who bound toward Harry, attempting to lick her face. She laughed and pushed the beast away toward Aoife.

“Good doggy!” She gushed and rubbed the back of his ears. Fang yipped before rolled over, showing his belly with his feet in the air.

“Hagrid, these are my friends, Ryota Kise,” the boy waved his hand at the introduction. “Aoife Hawke,”

“That’s me!” Aoife chirped from her seat.

“And last but not least, Leo Black.” 

Hagrid, who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot, paused and stared at Leo. The half-giants mouth hung open. Something was shining in his eyes, a mix of disbelieve, suspicion, and sadness.

“Hello, Mr. Hagrid.” Leo greeted him politely, a neutral smile on his face. It seemed the boy noticed the reaction as well. 

“’nother Black, aren’t yer? It was like yest’day I chased your fathers out of the forest,” Hagrid said quickly and turned his back to them. They pretended not to hear a sniffle coming from him as he arranged the rock cakes onto the plate. 

“I’ll take your words for it,” Harry said with a cheerful tone just as Hagrid set a plate of shapeless lumps on the table.

“I’ve never seen a wizard house before,” Ryo blurted out, still looking around the house.

“Ah, a muggleborn, I take it?” Hagrid started pouring out the tea into mismatched cups, “Yer wouldn’t be the one who brings tha’ little fox kit, would yer?” 

“Oh no. I don’t have any pets. I wasn’t sure what to buy, and Professor Sprout said it was alright not to get anything yet.” Ryo explained, “Told me to take my time to see what animal would suit me best.”

“You must be talking about Tetsuya,” said Aoife, sipping her tea and winced at the strong taste. “I’ve heard he had special permission from Professor McGonagall, something about the fox being his familiar.”

“There’s a difference between a pet and a familiar?” Ryo asked.

“It’s the bond, the animal an’ the master needs to have a magical bond to make it a familiar,” Hagrid explained. “Like me Fang, ‘ere. He’s me pet, yeah? But there’s no magical bond bet’een us. Unlike wi’ Professor Dumbledore an’ his Pheonix—Fawkes.”

“Professor Dumbledore has a Phoenix?”

“Aye! Mighty beaut’ful he is!” He paused for a second, “Yer said yer name’s Hawke? Yer wouldn’t be related to Malcolm Hawke, do yer?”

“That’s my dad!” Aoife chirped cheerfully.

“Oh, blimey! A fine folk he is! Met ‘im a few times. Told me all bou’ magical creatures native to Nor’ America. Yer see, we don’t have Rougarou, ‘ere in Britain, and—”

Harry listened halfheartedly as Hagrid eagerly explained about Rougarou—whatever they were, she’d hoped it was less dangerous than a dragon, which Hagrid had expressed his desire to own one. Harry doubted that even as mad as Dumbledore appeared to be, he would have put his foot down about Hogwarts Gamekeeper owning some dangerous fire-breathing beasts. She absently bit down on her cake but found it as hard as its name, Harry hid a grimace by carefully picked at the raisins on top and plopped them in her mouth before slid the rest of the shapeless lump of a cake into her pocket.

The conversation moved on from North American Magical Creatures back to the first week of school. Harry, Ryo, and Aoife took turns retelling the half-giant about their unfortunate encounter with Filch, as Leo sat quietly listening to the conversation, enjoying his cup of tea. Fang abandoned a spot at Aoife’s feet and moved on to putting his large head on Harry’s knee instead, the dog drooled all over her robes. She pitied whoever that was in charge of doing their laundry, remembering the time when s_he_ was the one cleaning the Dursley’s clothes whenever Aunt Marge’s dogs splashed drool all over them. 

Finally, the conversation came to the recent mishaps in Potion class today.

“Don’t yeh worry too much, Snape hardly likes anyone, especially students,” said Hagrid, waving his free hand.

“But he seemed to really hate me.” Harry insisted.

“Rubbish!” said Hagrid. “Why should he?”

But Hagrid wouldn’t meet their eyes after that statement. She glanced at Leo; they shared a knowing look. Their fathers and Snape’s rivalry must have been so well-known that even Hagrid knew about it. Harry was tempted to call him out on it. But it slipped away when Aoife let out a choking sound that she tried to mask it with a cough. Hagrid jumped at the opportunity to change the subject. “Yeh alrigh’ there, Aoife?”

“Fine—” she said, sliding the recently bitten cake onto her plate. “Just went down the wrong pipe.”

“Well, drink yer tea! Brew them meself!” He told her. Harry sympathetically nudged the hot cup toward her blond friend, who glared at Harry for not warning her about the cake. She still accepted the tea she had slid to her.

As soon as the cup and its mismatched saucer moved away, revealing a piece of paper underneath. Harry picked it up, realizing it was a cutting from the _Daily Prophet_:

**GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST**

Investigation continued into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July,  
widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown.  
Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken.  
The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day.  
“But we’re not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out  
if you know what’s good for you,” said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon.

Harry’s eyes widened, remembering the news they had talked about on the train. She had completely forgotten about it!

“Hagrid!” said Harry, lifting the piece of newspaper clipping for the others to see. “that Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might’ve happened while we were there!”

This time there was no doubt about it, Hagrid officially didn’t meet her eyes. He grunted and offered them another rock cake before prattling on about some nonsensical stuff about this year's weather. Even Aoife was starting to notice Hagrid’s blatantly avoidance of the topic but had gone along with the half-giant’s antics, telling him about how much she missed the dryer weather of North America Ryo was still oblivious about the exchange as the boy was playing with Fang.

Harry's eye met with Leo over the inedible rock cakes, the boy shook his head and gave her a knowing look—one that told her to leave the subject alone, for now. Harry sighed but went back rereading of the clipping. _The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day_. She knew Hagrid had emptied vault seven hundred and thirteen that day if you called taken that grubby looking package, wrapped in brown paper, emptying. Had the said package been what was the thieve looking for? What could it be?

But as Leo once told her, he didn’t believe in coincidence. That there was always a trail if you know where to look.

Or did she just watch too many detective movies and her imagination was simply running wild?

They stayed at Hagrid for a little while; Harry had pushed the subject of Gringotts robbery in the back of her mind until after they had said goodbye to his half-giant friend.

“That does sound suspicious.” Ryo finally said as he dropped the remaining rock cakes that Hagrid had given them as they leave—both too polite to say no—down the ravines as they crossed the wooden bridge once again. (Sorry, Hagrid but they would like to keep our teeth.) The sun was starting to get lower, indicating that they had a few hours left before the time for dinner arrived.

Harry had filled in Ryo and Aoife about that had happened and her suspicion around the whole robbery thing.

Aoife said, “What are the odds that the said vault had just been emptied on the same day Hagrid did his? But since I’ve never been down there, I can’t really speculate. It could have been some other vaults?”

“There’s a lot of them down there. Hundreds, maybe thousands of them.” Harry grimaced as she chugged her own share of cakes down the steep gorge. “What made me think it might have been the same one, is actually Hagrid’s reaction to the news. I mean, why cut out the clipping of it if it wasn’t something relating to what he did? He kept changing the subjects like he didn’t want to tell us about it.”

“He does seem the type to avoid subjects when he can’t lie or cover-up about it,” Leo confirmed Harry’s own thoughts. “Don’t get me wrong, he seems like a sweetheart—a big teddy bear. But from what I’ve known so far, he can’t deceive a blind man even if he’d tried.”

True, this was the main reason why Harry had taken a liking to Hagrid so much. For the longest time, besides Leo and the two Black ladies, no one had really been honest and upfront with her. Don’t get her wrong, she knew that sometimes, both Callisto and Lucretia had kept some of the information from her. Even Leo did the same sometimes. Harry knew there was something he couldn’t talk about. Perhaps, family’s secrets she wasn’t privy too. As long as they didn’t outright lie to her, she left the issue be.

And this also proved to Harry that she hadn’t been wrong about how honest Hagrid truly was. Instead of lying outright—which might have been easier to do, her giant friend hadn’t, and steered the talk away from the subjects. And as frustrated as Harry was about it, she wouldn’t say that out loud to Hagrid. 

Aoife chugged the last of their cakes. “And I’d noticed it’s not just about the robbery he changed subjects from.”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “He clearly knows something about Snape. I’m sure he knew both Snape and my and Leo’s fathers during their years at Hogwarts.”

“The rivalry between our fathers and Snape must have been a thing back in the day,” Leo commented.

“I also noticed how teary eyes he got when Harry introduced you.” Ryo piped in as he wiped his hands with a handkerchief. “Is there…. A story there?”

Harry looked at the taller boy. Leo’s face was as calm as ever. “There is, but not one for today.” He said and gestured with a nod of his head. “We have a few hours to kill before dinner. I think It’s time to check out the Library.”

No one objected to his proposal and the four of them made their way back toward the courtyard.

There were even more students sitting around than before, possibly because the afternoon classes were starting to let out. The whispers and eyes swung their ways again. Harry had a fixed smiled on her face. The same she used in competition. She didn’t meet anyone’s gaze, instead of looking through the thongs of staring students. Her skin was quite thick after all the years under Dudley and his gang’s torments. Don’t get her these were nothing like those times. No one had wanted to hunt her down and strung her on a flag pole. Their eyes and whispers were products of their curiosity, not out of malice. So, Harry had no problem dealing with it, but it did get annoying after a while.

Harry had to mentally shake herself out of the wandering thoughts. She concentrated on not getting lost as they continued finding their way toward the library.

If she was lucky, maybe she could finish Transfiguration and Potions homework before the weekend started. There was no way she would spend her first weekend at an ancient castle—magical or not, inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Ps ::** A cameo for our favorite Diggory boy! Hope this chapter came out alright.   
I’ve been stressed out since last month trying to graduate, turn out I need more credit for my minor. That means more Japanese classes, ugh. I hope this won’t slow me down. I do have raw version of two more chapters written already, however. I am in progress of writing chapter 12 right now, and it’s going slow because of all these things happening in my life; work, university, stuffs at home. So, please be patient with me?
> 
> Again, thanks all the comments/reviews/fav/follow/sub/bookmark/kudos. I’m sorry if I reply very slow. Come say hi to me on my twitter, until the next chapter, stay safe!


	10. Year 1 Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That flying lesson....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Warning ::** Female!Harry. Crossover. AU. No Beta. My grammar is as bad as house-elf. (very)Slow Burn. This is not a fix-it story, something will be better and something will be worst. This fic is also cross-posted only in two places; FF.net and AO3.  
**A/N ::** Wow, Chapter 10 already! Sorry about the late update. September-October kicked my butt with real-life issues. Much love to everyone who fav/follow/review/comment/kudo/sub this story!  
I also would like to remind some readers that the main characters of this story are both Harry (who is female) and Leo (whose past life was Tim Drake). And this story is taking place solely in Wizarding World. There will be some mentions to Batman and co here and there but they will not be showing up in this story. Tim Drake is dead in this story, he became Leo Black.   
Once again, I assured you that I am not bashing Hermione. She just needs a little time to chill. The girl is very high-strung at the moment. I promise it will get better soon.

**Chapter 10 :: Year 1 Part 5  
Fight and Flight.**

The day the notice of the first flying lesson was put up sparked the newest topic among the first-year Gryffindors. The class would be held outside at the training ground and taught by a witch named Madam Hooch, starting this Thursday after the afternoon class. The conversations exploded among the first-years as they compared their experiences. It seemed those who came from wizarding families had, in some ways, been on a broom before.

Seamus, Ron, and Declan animatedly told them about their times flying on toy brooms when they were young, even the girls like Aoife, Parvati, and Lavender had tried it at least once before. Even someone as quiet as Tetsuya had done it as well, he retold them about how his older brother had taught him how to mouth the broom since he was young. Neville, however, seemed to be the exception, he wasn’t allowed anywhere near a broomstick, his grandmother had forbidden him to do so.

So was Leo, in this case. Almost everyone except Harry and Aoife could not believe that he had never flown before, even when he came from one of the oldest pureblood families in Britain. Leo didn’t look bothered at all. The boy just dismissed it by telling them that he never had much interest in flying on a broomstick, to begin with.

However, anyone with social awareness could see, even Harry herself could tell that there was more to it than that; living with a squib aunt seemed to be some kind of stigma in the wizarding world. Leo might have lived in luxury but he was still raised _outside_ the sphere of _Wizarding_ influence. Something that even blood-traitors like the Weasleys would take pity on. So, Harry glared at anyone (Ron and Seamus) who tried to dig further for more reasons afterward, until they changed the subjects in the end.

The majority of the first-years were excited to finally have a go at flying on brooms. Meanwhile, the minority like Neville had outright whimpered about the prospect of his feet floating above the ground. The muggleborns and muggle-raised kids like Ryo, Dean, and Harry were ecstatic, the three of them joked about how they should be flying on vacuum cleaners these days and not on broomsticks—leaving Ron confused about what a vacuum cleaner was. 

Hermione, however, was unusually pale. The girl looked absolutely horrified about being on the broomstick but quickly masked it with random facts she memorized from some books.

As a solution to the problem of facing the flying lesson, Hermione solved it with the only way she knew how—by reading more books. Hermione checked out _Quidditch through the Ages_ from the library the same evening the notice was posted and proceeded to read through it. Harry swore she could hear the other girl’s mumbling from her bed that very night, possibly staying up late finishing the whole thing. Because came the next morning, Hermione looked utterly dreadful, her big curly hair frizzled and puffed up, even more, dark circles could be spotted under her eyes.

No one said anything to reassure the girl either. Both Parvati and Lavender were busy trying to assure their new best-friend—Bonnie, who looked a bit ill (but not as bad as Hermione). Neville was too terrified for himself to console anyone. Tetsuya who became Neville’s friend was too quiet to give him verbal assurance. Harry might have tried, but she had something else to worry about than helping anyone else.

“Typical,” Harry muttered at breakfast that morning. “As if I wanted to make a fool out of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy, or worse, that limpet hanging from his neck, Posy Parkinson.”

“I thought her name was Pansy?” mused Ryo.

“It is,” Leo confirmed without looking up from the morning papers. 

Yes. The flying lessons would be shared with Slytherins.

Aoife buttered her toast and said. “I don’t get why they keep putting us with that house. It’s obvious both Houses despised one another.”

“We asked Professor McGonagall once,” George Weasley said from the seat next to her.

“Something about School unity,” His twins—Fred finished it for him, from the next seat over.

“Sounds like absolute rubbish.” Harry shoved a piece of grapefruit into her mouth. Leo just shrugged and continued sipping on his tea and quietly reading the morning copy of the _Daily Prophet_. She still couldn’t understand his utter disinterest in flying.

“Oh, it is. We remembered McGonagall’s face when she told us that—” Fred started this time.

“She looked as if she smelled dragon dungs.” George continued, “Rumor has it, that she held a grudge against Slytherin House ever since her last Quidditch Match at school.”

“She could have acted like Snape, hating all Slytherins but nooooo, she’s quite fair when it comes to being impartial.” This time Lee Jordan, a third-year who was the twins’ best friend, piped in. “But when comes to Quidditch, all bets are off.”

“It’s gotten worse ever since our brother graduated—Charlie, he was our house Seeker. We didn’t win every house cup but the losses weren’t too bad. He had to step down from playing and let someone else take the role because of N.E.W.T.s. in the seventh year.” George grimaced as if remembering an unpleasant memory. “Kings was an all right seeker, even if he’s a bit dim, but he couldn’t hold the candle to what Charlie had done for our team. I’ve never seen McGonagall looked that furious before.”

“I would have gone crazy too if I have to deal with a post-game McGonagall after a loss like that.” Fred shivered. “The House Cup last year was a slaughter.”

“Poor Wood.” Lee nodded.

The three third-years glanced over at the tall, muscular fifth-year who had his nose buried in Quidditch Quarterly Magazine, blissfully ignorant to the ongoing gossips.

“Just great, I hardly know anything about flying and that git knows it. He’s been rubbing it in my face ever since we’ve met at Madam Malkin’s.” Harry stabbed the fruits with her fork.

“He could just be boasting though,” Ryo said, helpfully.

“Just like he had been doing since day one here,” Aoife added between her bite. 

Harry’s lips curled into a grimace, she remembered what Malfoy had been telling people about how he narrowly escaped the muggles in Helicopters. And how great of a flyer he was, some Slytherins like Pansy Parkinson cooed at his words, while two of Malfoy’s goons cheered him on. The boy sure boasted a lot, but there was no way to prove if he was really a capable flyer until they had seen it for themselves during the flying lesson, which happened to be today.

“Look,” said Leo. The boy finally put away the papers. “You can’t let someone like him get in the way of your first flying experience. I know you’ve been looking forward to this. It’s just like when you first started gymnastics, isn’t it? You didn’t care if you made a fool of yourself, as long as you have fun, right?”

Harry’s scowl deepened; her thoughts wandered back through time. Yeah, she recalled that time when she snuck inside the club and self-taught herself until Ms. Yu caught her. But this was different, back then no one care what she did. Now, Malfoy and his minions were waiting like hyenas for her to make mistake so he could gleefully pounce on her.

Their conversation was cut short by the arrival of posts. Harry craned her neck looking for Hedwig and Bruce but it seemed the two owls were nowhere in sight. Hedwig hadn’t delivered anything else since Hagrid’s note but she occasionally showed up for pieces of bacon, and Bruce always followed wherever the former went, unless Leo had him send letters home.

A familiar barn owl that Harry recognized as the Longbottom Family’s owl. She had seen it several times already in the past two weeks, Neville’s Gran had been sending him just about anything and everything that he had forgotten to pack, or already lost—from spare robes and hairbrush to a toothbrush, or a few textbooks. The owl swooped down and dropped a parcel onto Neville’s empty plate, startled him when his fork flipped up in the air and almost hit him in the face. The bird didn’t wait for a reply, instead of bent down and swiped a piece of bacon before took off.

Once his stupor was gone, Neville scrambled and opened the package excitedly. The next second, he pulled out a glass ball size of large marble filled with white smoke inside.

“Hey, look! Neville’s got a Remembrall!” Seamus exclaimed for people around them to hear. Even Hermione lowered _Quidditch through the Ages_ down just a bit to see.

“A remember—what now?” Harry looked at it with interest.

“A Remembrall,” Ron explained from where he’d been shoveling food, there was a piece of sausage half hanging out from his mouth, all the first-year girls grimaced at the sight—which he seemed not to care one bit. “Dad told us about one of those, it’s a reminder, for when you forget things.”

“My Gran knows I forgot things, well….a lot—and this tells you if there’s something you forget—oh…” Neville said, suddenly the smoke bleed from white to scarlet red. The boy’s lips turned down into a grimace.

“I believe the red is telling you that you’re forgetting something?” Tetsuya asked as he eyed the ball.

“There’s a small problem to this though—” Leo glanced from the item to Neville, “—you don’t remember what you’re forgetting.”

“Yeah.” Neville frowned deeper, possibly thinking of what he had been forgetting.

“It is alright, I will help you make a list of things you might have forgotten.” Tetsuya gave the boy a small assuring smile.

It seemed that Neville had taken refuge from all the craziness Hogwarts had to offer in the quiet Tetsuya. The Japanese boy didn’t seem to mind. Ever since the first incident in Snape’s class, they were often spotted sharing a table, either in the library or in the common room. The politeness Tetsuya seemed to radiate possibly assured Neville’s nervousness. While the boy no longer ran the other way when Harry or Leo was in the same room, the skittishness still hung in the air.

Just as Neville was about to put his new item away, the glass ball was snatched out of his hand by Draco Malfoy who had been walking past their table with his goons.

“What’s this? A Remembrall?” Malfoy smirked, “Of course, you’d need one of these, Longbottom. Considering how pathetic your brain is.”

Crabbe and Goyle laughed at the comment, Neville turned pink. On impulse, Harry abandoned her food and jumped out of her seat. Leo sighed and wiped his mouth with serviette before followed her, ignoring Hermione’s hissing; “_Don’t fight! You’ll lose us more points!_” from several seats down. Ryo did the same with his arms crossed, even Ron looked put out at Malfoy’s presence. Aoife, however, just sat there and watch with great interest.

“Give it back, Malfoy,” Harry warned.

“Or what, Potter?” Malfoy taunted; his goons sniggered. Harry stepped closer; she was almost nose to nose with the pale boy when a familiar silhouette—taller than any of them looming behind the Slytherins.

“Good morning, Professor McGonagall.” Leo greeted loudly with a small smile on his lips, both the Slytherins and Harry freeze at his words.

“Good morning, Mister Black—” She replied, her green eyes behind the square glasses eyed the group knowingly. “Is something the matter?”

“Malfoy’s got Neville’s Remembrall, Professor. I’m asking him _nicely_ to give it back.” Harry answered with a sharp smirk of her own.

The elder witch eyed the pale boy sharply as he sneered and quickly slammed the ball back on the table. It’s a wonder the thing hadn’t break from the impact yet. Neville snatched it back and held protectively in both hands, the smoke still pulsed scarlet.

“Just looking,” he said before flounced away, Crabbe and Goyle trailing behind him. No one said anything until the group disappeared out of the Great Hall.

“It’s a great day for flying, isn’t it?” Harry commented, changing the topic, nevertheless their Head of House looked back at her with knowing eyes. 

“It is indeed. It’s my best wishes that this year’s flyers will be more promising than the last. Even though they can’t join the House team just yet.” Professor McGonagall simply said, giving all first years expecting look before taking her leave.

Everyone let out a relieved sigh, secretly grateful no house point was lost. Harry wished that she had taken a few from the Slytherins but she’d take what she could get.

**: : : : : :**

Right after their DADA class that afternoon, Leo and the rest of his fellow Gryffindors hurried down toward the training ground where the flying lesson would take place. It was clear and sunny just like Harry had commented in the morning, although a little breezy from autumn air. After they all marched down the sloping grassy path, they finally reached the courtyard filled with green grass. The lawn was large but walled up with tall battlements and ramparts, it sat against the edge of the forbidden forest. 

The Slytherins were already there, so were about twenty brooms lining neatly in two rows facing one another. Fred and George Weasley had complained to them during lunch about the school brooms, saying that some of them were so old that they started to vibrate if you flew too high or always off-sided to the left. 

Madam Hooch, their flying instructor, arrived just after the Gryffindors. She had short spiky gray hair, coupled with yellow eyes; giving her a no-nonsense, hawk-liked look.

“Gryffindors, leave your bags by the wall then line up by the brooms!” She instructed with a wave of her hand toward the nearest wall, where a pile of bags—possibly Slytherins’—already lying there. They scrambled dropping their bags carelessly in a messy pile, before shot off to the available brooms, not wanting to end up with the frazzled looking one.

Leo slid next to the one by Harry’s side, looking down to check, and found that he wasn’t bad-looking, most of the twigs were still there and the handle didn’t look too gnarly. Ryo took a spot by Harry’s other side, while Aoife took Leo’s.

And of course, Neville ended up with that one mangled broom after he was last to arrive.

“Everyone, stick out your right hand over your broom,” Madam Hooch said loudly at the front, “and say ‘Up!’”

“UP!” shouted everyone.

Harry’s broom shot up in her hand at once. She blinked in surprised and a grin spread on her face. Unfortunately, so was Malfoy’s—it seemed he wasn’t just boasting about flying after all. Leo stare down skeptically at his broom, contemplating.

The broom had lifted up off the ground for a second before flopping back down after his first try.

“Try again with more feelings,” Harry whispered to him. Leo sighed, the problem was, he didn’t want to fly, not really.

He wasn’t afraid of height, no, after all, he did spend years in his last life slinging around between high-rise buildings. Even though he did die from falling off of one, to him that didn’t count. It was the act of flying itself that had not interested him.

Maybe he was projecting his desire and the broom could sense it? Well, no matter, now wasn’t the time for this.

“Up!” He shouted again, forcing his intention into it. This time it shot up into his hand. Malfoy sneered at him from where he stood. Leo ignored him.

“Good job everyone who succeeded on the first try,” Madam Hooch complimented. “As for those of you who didn’t, keep trying!” 

Leo let out a small breath through his nose as he looked around them. Aoife had no difficulty calling her broom. But he wasn’t surprised since she had flown before. Ryo still tried his hardest to call the broom to his hand, until Harry leaned in and whispered something to him—possibly the same thing she told Leo. Ryo’s scowl deepened as he tried again. After the third time, his broom lifted and flew into his hand. The boy beamed at Harry, profusely thanking her. 

Ron’s broom did fly up but instead of going to his waiting hand, it smacked into his face instead. The Slytherins sniggered at his misfortune as the boy groaned in pain. Several others like Dean, Seamus, and some Slytherins, had succeeded in their third or fourth tries. Some like Granger, whose broom kept rolling on the grass instead of lifted, much the girl’s ire. As for Neville…. He didn’t even twitch at all. The boy stared at the object in despair as Madam Hooch went over to him and insisted that he tried harder calling his broom. Tetsuya with his broom already in his hand could only look at him with sympathy in his eyes.

After another good fifteen minutes, finally, everyone successfully had called the brooms to their hands. Madam Hooch proceeded on by showing them the correct ways to mouth their brooms without sliding off before walking up and down the rows checking and correcting their grips which turned out to be almost everyone, including a sneering Malfoy when the witch informed him that the way his father had taught him was incorrect and the chance of him falling off the broom would increase if he went faster.

“Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard,” explained Madam Hooch once their stances were up to her satisfaction, “Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. Understood?”

“Yes, Madam Hooch.” Everyone chorused in unison, even the Slytherins.

“Very well, here we go,” she lifted the whistle to her lips. “On my whistle—three—two—”

Before she could finish counting, Neville squeaked in panic and pushed off hard from the ground.

“Come back down, Mister Longbottom!” Madam Hooch shouted, only served to panic him even more. Neville shot straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle, their housemates screamed at the sight—higher and higher he went. And then suddenly he slipped sideways off the broom, plunged downward.

He hit the ground before Madam hooch could get her wand out. With a thud and a nasty crack, Neville lay in heap on the ground. His broomstick still rising higher for several more minutes before it drifted toward the forest, and was out of sight.

“Broken wrist,” Madam Hooch announced, waved her wand to conjured a splint for him. Before helping him stand. “Come on, child—it’s alright, up you get.”

She turned to the rest of the class. “No one is to move while I take him to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you’ll be out of Hogwarts before you can say _Quidditch!_ Come, dear.”

And then they were off. But only until they were out of their earshot. Malfoy and his cohorts burst into laughter.

“Did you see his face? What a cry baby!”

Some of the Slytherins joined in, while some looked just as shaken as the Gryffindors.

“Shut up, Malfoy,” snapped Parvati, surprising everyone.

“Oooh, sticking up for Longbottom?” jeered Parkinson. “Do you, perhaps, fancy crybabies? Especially the fat ones.”

“Look!” Malfoy darted forward and snatched something off of the ground. He waved it in for everyone to see. “It’s the stupid ball Longbottom’s gran sent him.”

The Remembrall glittered in the sun, white smoke drifted lazily inside the sphere.

“Give it back, Malfoy,” Harry stepped forward before anyone could do anything. When did the girl move from his side?! Everyone stopped talking and watched the exchange at once.

Malfoy sneered, “I think, I’ll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find—how about—up a tree?”

“Give it _here_!” Harry yelled, her green eyes glint dangerously. Leo knew that look well.

“Oh-oh,” he muttered under his breath.

Without warning, Harry lunged forward. But Malfoy prove too slippery, even startled, he dug just in time—Harry gave chase after him.

“Should we try stopping them?” Ryo asked hastily from his side. His face paled with worry.

“You see that look in her eyes? There is no stopping her, mate.” Leo muttered just as Malfoy decided to make his escape by leaping onto his broomstick, and taken off. He hovered above the ground, just by the top of a grand oak, “Come and get it, Potter!”

Harry grabbed her broom.

“_No!_” shouted Hermione, “Didn’t you hear Madam Hooch telling us not to move?! You will get us all in trouble!”

“Then you do nothing, _Harmony_.” Harry snarled and mounted her broom in one swift motion. She kicked off hard from the ground, head straight toward Leo’s cousin. With only a wobble, Harry commandeered her broom up in the sky. Higher and higher they went, as Harry chased after Malfoy. Finally, they stopped, the two of them hovered midair facing each other for several minutes, like there were talking to one another. But at the height they were, no one could hear what was said.

Most of the Gryffindors cheered from the ground. Ron and his friends clapped their hands. The giggling trio huddled together whispering among themselves. Hermione turned around yelled at Leo. “Why didn’t you stop her!?”

“You think I could?” said Leo, “She didn’t even listen to you,”

Before Hermione could retort, Malfoy’s shout; “Catch it if you can, then!” and then Neville’s Remembrall flew from Malfoy’s hair into the air.

“Harry!” Aoife screamed as they saw Harry leaned on her broom, racing toward the falling object.

Leo could feel his heart plummeted just as his friend dive after the ball. A flash of his deadly fall came back behind his eyes as Harry descended downward without stopping, hand stretching out. Malfoy who already came back down stood in shock as the classmates all around them screamed.

Ryo yelled beside him but he could not hear what the boy said. His eyes fixed on his friend, the hero he was supposed to help guide to her destiny—dive straight down, on and on. Just as three feet above the ground left, Harry twisted, catching the small object with one hand as the other pulled her broom upward. And then she was hovering above ground once more, the Remembrall, in her hand, glinting in the sunlight. Their classmates stared at her hovering figure in shock.

Leo’s heart unclenched when Harry finally came back to the ground, a big smile on her face as their housemates’ cheers erupted.

“Never—do—that—again,” Leo hissed just as he reached her. Eyes roving, as he tried to find any injury. Aoife and Ryo sandwiched on each side of her, trying to do the same.

Harry wheezed a little, “No promi—”

“HARIEL POTTER!!”

They all froze. Professor McGonagall was running toward them, her face thunderous. Everyone paled again at the sight of the Head of their House, even Harry.

“Never—in all my years at Hogwarts—” she hissed; her glasses flashed dangerously under the afternoon sun. “—how dare you—you could have broken your neck—”

“Professor! It’s not her fault—” Aoife tried to say,

“Be quiet, Miss Hawke—”

“But it was—”

“I said, be quiet, Mister Kise—”

“Professor, please—” this time it was Leo’s turn, but the older witch swung her furious green eyes toward him.

“That’s _enough_, Mister Black. Potter, follow me, _now_.”

Harry flicked her gaze toward him one last time. She quickly tossed the Remembrall to Leo, before taking off, following Professor McGonagall back toward the castle.

“Prepare to say goodbye to your girlfriend, Black!” Malfoy laughed, his goons and a good portion of Slytherins followed his example.

“Why you little—” Aoife lunged for the boy but was caught by Ryo. Leo turned calmly before stepped in front of his cousin, bringing himself to the full height. He was please to know that he was almost a head taller than him. Startled, the pale boy stepped back.

“Remember, cousin,” Leo said, his voice hard, he imitated how Arcturus Black had look-like before his timely demise. He stared down his nose at Malfoy. Everyone stopped talking at once. “If Hariel is to be expelled from the stun _you_ pulled, I will make sure that _you_ also get expelled.” He never raised his voice, “And I will make sure no magical school in Europe will ever accept you. Not even your precious Durmstrang.”

Malfoy faltered. His face paled a little bit before he tried to put a haughty look back on. The boy sneered, or tried to, “As if anyone would listen to a _squib_ like you.”

This time, a smile spread on Leo’s face but it wasn’t a pleasant one, everyone around him visibly shivered. “Do you want to bet on that, _cousin_?”

Knowing his battle lost, the blond boy slung back to where his housemates had congregated. It wasn’t even a second past before—

“I told her!” Hermione Granger yelled to no one, “It’s all her fault! She’ll get us all in trouble! Madam Hooch clearly—”

“There is a time and place for your nagging, Granger,” Leo said icily, not in the mood to be nice. Startling the muggleborn out of her ranting. She looked shocked at the tone of his voice. It might be because Leo had never interacted with her like this before. There was always a civil distant between the two of them despite Harry’s occasionally antagonizing toward her. “And this is _not_ one of them.”

“But Madam Hooch stated that we—”

“So, are you saying Harry is wrong to stand up for a friend? _Your _friend, our housemate.” Aoife asked this time, her blue eyes cold. Even Ryo looked at the girl with disappointment in his eyes.

“She should have just left the matter to the teacher!”

“Do you hear yourself? Are you telling me her reasoning is not worth taking into acco—” Ryo asked but Leo stopped him before he could finish the sentence.

“That’s enough, Ryo. There is no point in making her see.” Leo stared down at the girl just as he did with Malfoy. “She’s only worried that her precious house points would be deducted, but not for the reason why. I can see that Granger would rather stay as ignorant as possible. We should leave her be.”

The girl sputtered, clearly wanting to defend herself. But nothing came out, she fluttered.

“What are you all doing there?”

Madam Hooch was back and she didn’t look happy that no one had stayed exactly where she had told them to, even the Slytherins.

Aoife, Ron, Seamus, Hermione, and a few of the Gryffindors launched into their version of the stories at the same time, they were talking over each other. After a few minutes, it turned into a shouting match when the Slytherins joined in, trying to defend Malfoy.

“Enough!” She said testily. “Mister Black, tell me _exactly_ what happened.”

Leo pretended not to see Hermione’s huffing, perhaps for being overlooked by a teacher and told Madam Hooch his version of the story. Exactly as it happened, including Malfoy’s instigation, producing the object that sparked the incident in his hand, before ending it with Professor McGonagall’s interference.

Madam Hooch stared at Neville’s Remembrall with clenched jaws before swung her gaze toward the rest of them.

“I see that you all won’t be able to concentrate after this. I will end the class for the day and check with Professor McGonagall when it can be held again. Dismiss, all of you. Not you, Mister Malfoy,” She grabbed him by the shoulder. “You are coming with me to see Professor Snape! You think you can get away with pulling a stunt like that in my class—the nerves of you!!”

“But that squib was lying—” Malfoy tried to say as she dragged him toward the castle. Boulder One and Boulder Two scrambling after their boss. Some of the Slytherins glared at Leo and his housemates, especially, Pansy Parkinson and her friends.

Everyone else also dispersed. They all went to their discarded bags. Hermione was the first to go, but not without giving Leo the stink eye first. Aoife stuck her tongue at the girl’s retreating back. Ryo just sighed.

“Careful who you are making enemies of, Black,” Greengrass whispered as she and her friends passed him by. “Just a friendly warning.”

“Thank you.” He said with a polite nod but offered nothing else. She hadn’t told him anything he didn’t already know. The blond girl and her friends walked away.

“Your house is full of nutters,” one of the Slytherin girls told Gryffindor named Declan Troy, from their similar look, this must be his twin sister who ended up in Slytherins. Yikes, that must have made things awkward.

“Come, maybe we can catch McGonagall before she sends Harry anywhere,” Leo commented as the three of them slung their bags over their shoulders and took off toward Transfiguration’s classroom. On the way there, they racked their brain, trying to think of the many excuses to help to persuade their Head of House to lessen Harry’s punishment.

As it turned out, they hadn’t needed any of that. Because Professor McGonagall assured them that Harry was not expelled. In fact, she got off with nothing but a slap on the wrist and the promise that if she repeated it again, she would be sent home, for real this time. The older witch extended the warning to the rest of them as well.

The three of them stared at the Head of House in shock. Leo didn’t miss the small smirk on Professor McGonagall’s face as she sent them all on their way since the bell chimed, indicating the coming dinner time.

**: : : : : :**

“I can’t believe this,” Leo said as he rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration before glared sideways at her. But Harry just grinned smugly back at him.

It was dinnertime, and Harry had just finished telling her friends what had happened after Professor McGonagall had led her away. Her two other friends also stared at her in shock after hearing the news, technically her housemates were all shocked at the turn of this event. Ron had a piece of kidney-pie hanging from his mouth, he stared at Harry with stars in his eyes. The rest of them ignored him.

“You did that thing after a forty-foot dive—”

“Excuse me, but it was a _fifty-foot_ dive.” Harry corrected her long-time friend.

“Well, _Pardon me_. That fifty-foot dive almost gave us all a heart attack.” Leo’s glare intensified. “We were all so worried that you might have gotten expelled. At least show some remorse, my dear Hariel.”

Harry’s face fell just a little. Hermione sniffed loudly from where she sat, clearly showing her disapproval. Harry ignored her and said, “I don’t regret doing it.”

Leo clicked his tongue in annoyance, “And I’m not saying you should. But you have to realize how lucky it is that it was McGonagall who caught it, and not someone else, say, like—Snape—”

“He’s right, you are either the luckiest person or the unluckiest, depends on how you look at it. Instead of getting expelled, McGonagall handed you our house Seeker at you instead.” Ryo commented as he sipped the pumpkin juice, the boy suddenly grimaced. “Ugh. Too sweet. How can anyone drink this stuff every day?”

“Here, add this. It’s water.” Aoife said, holding out a jug to the half-Japanese boy. Once he accepted, she turned to Harry with a smile. “Well, no matter what happened, let’s me say this, congratulation on making the team.”

“Thanks!” Harry replied with a smile of her own. Leo let out a long, deep, sigh.

“Yes, congratulation. I believe it is one of your goals, isn’t it? To make the house team?” Her long-time friend commented. Harry nodded with a grin. Of course, she knew she was getting off easy. She could still feel the simmering anger underneath those grey eyes belonged to the dark-haired boy. But instead of dragging the issue on, Leo decided to shove it aside for now. Something which she was feeling grateful for.

Leo spoke again, “You’ll be needing a broom then? Do you want me to write Aunt Lucretia for that?”

Harry shook her head, “It’s alright. Professor McGonagall said that she will discuss further with Wood what kind of broom would suit me, she said she will take care of it.” Harry explained, scooping some Shepard’s pie for herself. She paused and lowered her voice, looking at all the first-year Gryffindors who had been listening in, “Most importantly though, Professor McGonagall told me to keep this a secret. Wood will only tell our team. They wanted it to be a surprise,”

All the first-years—except Hermione who pretending she wasn’t eavesdropping—nodded enthusiastically. Leo gave her a knowing look. Somehow Harry wasn’t too worried about keeping it a secret. Even someone like her who only have two weeks at Hogwarts knew that there was pretty much no secret within the Gryffindor Tower. If it wasn’t the first year, it was some excitable upper-years who overhear it from someone else. Even their house ghost—Sir Nick couldn’t help himself but brag about it. 

Harry thought that by the time the rumors came back to her, it might have been the different stories altogether.

Suddenly two shadows fell on top of her, followed by a pair of arms dropping on top of her shoulder, actually, no, it wasn’t a pair. Instead, they belonged to two different pairs of arms. 

“Seeker, eh?” Fred Weasley said in a low voice. “The youngest in a century, I hear.”

“Well done,” George Weasley added, “Wood told us. We’re on a team too—Beaters.”

“You must be good, little spitfire,” said Fred. “Wood was skipping when he told us.”

They slapped her back enthusiastically, and then they were gone just as quickly as when they came. Harry blinked and looked at her friends, “Was that some kind of hazing?”

“Don’t ask me,” Leo turned back to his meal.

For the next fifteen minutes, Harry was swarmed by her new teammates from the upper years Gryffindors, who came to congratulate her as quietly as any Gryffindors could. The Fourth-year Alicia Spinet and the Fifth-year Angelina Johnson welcomed her warmly while citing that they were excited to finally have more girls on the team.

Edmund Kings, the sixth-year who formerly held the team’s position as Seeker, also profusely thanked her for taking the position from him (along with the stress that came with it) and wished her luck with Wood. The older happily informed her that he most likely became a reserved Seeker from now on. Making Harry felt slightly less guilty for taking the position from him.

“Seriously, I thought you were a goner, mate,” Declan commented from several seats away once all the upper years went away. “I’m not that enthusiastic about Quidditch but what you did was really incredible.”

“I believe so as well,” Tetsuya said, surprising everyone. “And thank you for standing up for Longbottom-san. Black-san had returned the Remembrall to me. I will give it to Longbottom-san when he comes back from the hospital wing.”

That shock everyone, it was the first time the Japanese boy had spoken so much at once. Harry flushed at the compliment. Before she could return the gratitude, however, someone far less welcome than the Weasley twins showed up.

“Having the last meal, Potter?” Malfoy smirked mockingly. Everyone at Gryffindor table glared at him, even Tetsuya. “When are they sending you back to the Muggles? Maybe your squib friend should join you?”

“Sod off, Malfoy!” Ron shouted from his seat, pieces of food flying everywhere. Bonnie and Parvati shrieked and moved out of the way.

“Be quiet, Weasel. Your betters are speaking.” The pale boy sneered.

“You little—”

“It’s alright, Ron,” Harry spoke up, halting the enraged redhead. She got up from her seat and came to stand in front of the pale boy. But not before saying, “It’s sweet of you to try to help, but I can handle this.”

The redhead flushed at the direct compliment and sat down abruptly. Leo, still in his seat, just looked at them with cool indifference. Aoife’s hand was already in her pocket, no doubt grabbing for her wand. Ryo stood up as well, but unfortunately, he was on the other side of the table.

Turning back to Malfoy, Harry crossed her arms and said coolly, “Well, you are certainly braver now with your feet on the ground, standing between your little friends,” There was nothing at all little about Crabbe and Goyle, but as the High Table was filled to the brim with the teachers, neither could do nothing but crackling knuckles and trying to look menace. Had Harry never lived with Uncle Vernon all her life, she might have been scared. These two were not even as tall as her uncle, or as large.

“I’d take you on anytime on my own,” Malfoy paused dramatically, “How about tonight if you want—”

“Malfoy, are you asking me on a date-night?” Harry smirked, all her friends except Leo, laughed.

“Wha—? No!” The boy spluttered and flushed, or as much as his pale complexion would allow. “I’m talking a Wizard’s duel! Wands only—no contact.”

But Harry pretended not to believe it, she narrowed her eyes and looked suspiciously at him. “Are you sure? The way you said it—whatever your girlfriend—what’s her name again? Oh, right, Posy Parkinson, what would she say if she heard it?” 

“It’s _Pansy_ and she is not my _anything_!” the boy looked ready to explode now, “And stop stalling, Potter! Or are you scared? Do you even _know_ about Wizard’s duel?”

“Calm down, I’m just making sure. And of course, I have heard of Wizard’s duel before.” Harry waved her hand, “Do you want to name our second now, or later?”

“We can do it now,”

Ron shot up from his seat again, “I’ll be her—”

“I _am_ her second,” Leo finally got up from his seat, cutting off whatever Ron wanted to say. He pulled himself to his full height once more, dwarfing Malfoy. “And who’s yours?”

Malfoy looked at his two gorillas for a second, as if seizing them up.

“Crabbe,” the boy said. “Midnight, at the trophy room; it’s always unlocked.”

“And I will be your referee,” A voice called out. Everyone turned to the source and realized it was Tetsuya, and he was out of his seat, standing right behind Crabbe and Goyle. The two oafs startled a squeak when they realized someone was standing behind them.

“And who are you supposed to be?” sneered Malfoy.

“Oh, you don’t know him, Malfoy? Perhaps, your family is _not_ as important as you think you are.” Leo commented with a lopsided smirk, “Then let me introduce you to the son of the current Japanese Ambassador—Tetsuya Kuroko. His family is also the vessel of the Japanese Royal House, for the last nine hundred years.”

Everyone’s mouth hung open at the revelation, Tetsuya, however, was nonplused. He bowed politely as if this was an ordinary introductory.

“I am certain that I am more than qualified. I have refereed Wizard’s duels for the royal prince more than once.” Deadpan, the boy informed them. 

“I am honored to have you referee for us,” Harry said without missing a beat, forcing herself not to smirk too wide before turning to the pale boy. “How about you, Malfoy? Scared you can’t cheat?”

“As if,” the boy spat, “Fine! He can be the referee.”

Malfoy and his goon were about to leave when Leo called out to them, “Hold on, Malfoy.”

“What do you wa—”

“_Alias Retaliatus!_” A flash of faint light shot out of Leo’s wand, it connected to Malfoy’s forehead before faded away. Everyone gaped, because no one saw Leo draw a wand at all. Even Harry hadn’t seen it coming.

Malfoy shriek a little, hands went to his head trying to find what was wrong. “What did you do!?”

“Oh, just a little insurance.” Leo just shrugged, sliding his wand back into his holster. “You see, I don’t trust that you will show up on time. Or worse, you could have gone and tattled about our little duel to a certain caretaker.” From the boy’s expression, it must have been his plan all along. Well, Harry wasn’t surprised at all. Leo continued speaking, “So, I put a little jinx on you. If you don’t show up tonight, a certain word—let’s say—something like ‘COWARD’—will show up on your forehead tomorrow. And it will stay there until I remove it with a counterspell.”

“How do I know you are not just bluffing!?” pale-faced, Malfoy shouted, clearly shaken.

“You don’t,” Leo shrugged carelessly. “Feel free to test it out. And by the way, Professor Snape can’t help you either. That spell was taught to me by my great-grandfather, the late Lord Black himself. He invented it, see?” Leo smiled chillily. “But do not worry, just show up tonight, and I promise to remove it before your duel.”

“Fine!” The boy gritted his teeth and turned on his heels, stumbled into his two friends. “Move, you stupid apes! Wait until my father hear ab—”

And the Slytherins were gone, the three of them stormed out of the great hall. Harry looked around; the teachers surprisingly ignorant of their whole exchange. Everyone went back to their seats.

“I didn’t know you know a spell like that,” Harry whispered to Leo.

“Of course not,” said the boy. “Because it doesn’t exist.”

“You were bluffing?!” Aoife hissed.

“Absolutely,” Of course he was. That boy—

“Excuse me.”

The four of them looked up, it was Hermione Granger again.

“Can we help you, Hermione?” Ryo asked with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“I can’t help but overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying—”

“Please don’t do us any favor, _Harmony_. Everyone at this table can hear what we were saying.” Harry said coolly.

“It’s Hermione!” She corrected with grinding teeth, “And you should not go wandering around at night! Think of the points Gryffindor will lose if you’re caught! That’s very selfish of you!”

“Selfish?” Harry turned to her coldly, “Let me tell you something about selfishness. Maybe I am selfish for standing up to a prat like Malfoy. Sure, we will lose the House points and maybe I will get expelled. But do you know what’s more selfish? By not helping our housemate, or doing nothing when they need help just because you are afraid to lose your precious points.”

Anyone who could hear gaped at what Harry said. but she wasn’t done. Harry looked at the other girl up and down, “Are you sure you belong in the house of the Braves, Granger? Or the hat just sorted you here because you nagged it long enough?”

The girl flushed deep red at that. Without another word, she gathered her bags and stormed away, out of the great hall. As soon as she was out of their earshot, Bonnie, Parvati, and Lavender huddled close to whispered among themselves. Harry turned back to her cold Shepard’s pie, forcing her breath to slow down.

“Wasn’t that a little bit too harsh?” Ryo asked hesitantly.

“It was,” Leo agreed, “But it needs to be said. At the rate she’s going, she will give herself a brain aneurysm before the term ends.”

“The girl seriously needs to chill,” Aoife said. “She’s just so bossy.”

“I agree,” Tetsuya said, he already finished with his meal and had his bag slung over his shoulder already. “Granger-san is not a bad person, but she is a little bit interfering,”

“You mean Nosy,” Harry said dryly.

Tetsuya gave them a small smile, “Perhaps. But let’s leave this matter be. What time do you plan to leave for the trophy room?”

“We should be there early to scout the room. You never know what traps Malfoy might be hiding. We can also some recons on how long it takes from our dorm to the destination after dinner. But you don’t have to do that, just meet us later, perhaps at least an hour earlier than the designated time—what?”

Leo paused when the four pairs of eyes stared at him.

“Wow, you planed everything already, did you?” Harry commented, deadpan.

“Of course, I’ve seen this coming since your argument with him on the train,” Leo said. and Harry rolled her eyes. Of course, he did.

Tetsuya cleared his throat, “What time do you want to meet, then?”

“Eleven, in the common room?” Leo glanced back at Harry.

“Yes, sounds good to me.” She agreed.

“Very well, I will meet you in the common room at eleven sharps,” Tetsuya said before he walked away.

Harry watched the quiet boy go, a little fascinated. “I’m surprised he’s joining us.” she turned to Leo who was sipping some tea, “Is what you said about him true?”

“Yes,” He said without looking at any of them, “Kuroko clan is a minor branch of the Royal house, I said minor but there was nothing minor about it. Tetsuya’s father is one of the emperor’s closest retainers. I’m surprised he was posted here, overseas.”

“Wow, you are Mr. Walking-Wikipedia,” Ryo commented, Harry snorted, and Leo, in turn, threw a serviette at him.

Impassively, the boy looked down at his wristwatch. “We should leave soon if we are to scout for escape routes. We only have until the curfew, which is in three hours.”

“Well, let me finish this treacle tart and I’m good to go,” Harry was about to wolf down this slice of the tart when Ron called her from across the table.

“Hey, Hariel!” She looked up, her three other friends did as well. Surprisingly, he didn’t have pieces of food hanging from his mouth. Perhaps he already finished eating. Besides the read-haired boy, Dean, Seamus, and Declan looked at them nervously.

Oh-oh, this couldn’t be good.

“What is it, Ron?” Harry kept her voice neutral.

“Are you sure it’s okay with Black as your second?” The boy said, glaring at Leo as he spoke. “I mean, he’s related to Malfoy, isn’t he? Maybe he just lures you there for Malfoy! You can’t trust them! He’s a Black after all!”

Harry felt a twitch on the corner of her mouth. She wanted so badly to lash out but she could feel Leo’s hand squeezing her knee, telling her not to do it.

“Funny you mentioned about the Blacks, Weasley,” Leo said calmly from next to her. “You do know that your paternal grandmother—Cedrella Weasley was a Black? That made us related as well. Are you saying we can’t trust anything you say?”

“How dare you talk about my grandmama like that! She was nothing like you lot!” Ron was angry now, and completely missing the whole point. “She was kind and generous, that’s why you Blacks disowned her!”

“She was disowned for marrying your grandfather. Whom, if I recalled correctly lost the rest of his family fortunes to a swindle.” Leo said evenly. Everyone that could hear, gasped. Ron’s face was almost the same shade as his hair now. The boy opened his mouth, no doubt, to throw more insult, but—

“RONALD BILLIUS WEASLEY!” Someone yelled from down the table. Everyone swung around to see a furious Percy stormed down from the aisle. In a flash, he was right by Ron’s side, finger pointed at his younger brother. “You will shut your mouth! Or I will owl mother about your disgraceful behavior!”

“But Perce—” Ron tried to protest,

“I said to shut it!” Percy hissed back at him and Ron shrank back. The older boy swung around to face Leo. “My sincere apology to you, Black. I’ll make sure my brother stops antagonized you from now on. Please send Aunt Lucretia my deepest regard.”

“Of course, and thank you,” Leo said with a serene smile on his face, before getting up from his seat with his bag slung over his shoulder. Harry and the other two did the same, all the desserts ideas were abandoned. They all grabbed their bags.

Together, the four of them made their ways out of the great hall, pretending not to hear Percy Weasley’s continuous yelling at his younger brother.

**: : : : : :**

In the end, Leo had successfully talked Aoife and Ryo out from coming along with them to the trophy room. He cited that the more people going along the hard it was to sneak past Filch and his demon cat. Aoife and Ryo hadn’t been happy but they realized that the boy was right, and decided to stay put at Gryffindor Tower—Much to Harry’s relieved.

They, however, tagged along for Leo’s ‘scouting’ trip. After leaving the great hall, the four of them made their way toward the said trophy room. It was located on the third floor of the castle. It was a large room with a high arching ceiling. Glass displays were lining every wall, each of them filled to the brim with trophies, plates, Cups, shields, and statues. On one wall, however, contained a long list of Head Boys and Head Girls—Harry was excited to see her parents’ names among them. It was hung next to the plaque for Hogwarts Awards for Services to the School.

Once the small ‘tour’ around the room was done. They spent almost forty-five minutes mapping out the hidden places in the room, every nooks and cranny where traps could be hiding. Turned out there were none, at least not yet. Didn’t mean Malfoy and his goons wouldn’t try to put some of them later.

Harry, herself, surveyed the room. She thought it was an odd choice for dueling. Sure, the room was always unlocked, and the location wasn’t hard to find. But with the display glasses lining every wall, wouldn’t it be bad if one of their spells hit it and perhaps cracked or broke the case.

When she voiced her thoughts to Leo, the boy told her, “I don’t think Malfoy thought that far ahead. He probably thought to lure you out of bed for Filch to find and catch you.”

“And now he can’t do it because of your trick,” Harry snorted.

“Never the less, once we finished this we need to review what spells you can use against him,” Leo said. “I’m sure the prefects will leave us alone if we told them we are trying out spells from the coursebook.”

“As long as Hermione doesn’t tattle on you, right?” Aoife muttered.

“We will deal with her if it comes to that,” Leo assured them.

After making sure the room was free of any traps, it was time for them to secure the escape routes.

Several ways would lead them back to Gryffindor Towers. The fastest one was to go through the attached Armory and then head straight to the moving staircases. But this route depended so much on luck, if the staircase changed to different floors instead of whichever closest to the seventh floor, they might be in trouble. And so, this route became the backup one instead.

The best route turned out to one with a little detour. By leaving from the way they came and made their way down the narrow stairs toward the second floor, they could use the upper-year Transfiguration corridor to travel to another connected tower, and from there made their way back to Gryffindor Tower. There was one problem, if somehow the way out of the room were blocked, they would not be able to use it.

There were several others but Harry’s head was already spinning by the time they had tried the fourth one. Even Ryo looked almost cross-eyed. Not to mention, Aoife whom they knew had no sense of direction, at all.

“Well, that’s good enough for now, I guess,” Leo commented as he looked at them one by one. “Let’s go back to the common room and practice your spells.”

“Finally!” Harry threw her hands up in triumph. 

By the time they made it back to Gryffindor Tower, it was already almost time for the lower-years’ curfew. Nevertheless, Leo picked a corner of the common room where they could practice without disturbing everyone else. Aoife and Ryo sat down on the table nearby and started on their DADA homework while occasionally watched her and Leo.

From then on, Leo had her cast any spells she thought that could be used in a duel.

If Harry had to be honest, her arsenal of spells was abysmal, comparing to someone like Draco Malfoy, who had, no doubt, been taught since he could walk about wizard’s duel. But Harry had agility on her side, she had been an athlete since she was a child. Leo prompted her to use it to her advantage.

“We don’t have the luxury of time to practice new spells. Just pick a few and go with it,” Leo instructed her, “and remember to dodge! _Vermillious!_”

With that the boy shot a red spark right at her head, Harry ducked and roll just in time. “Hey! I wasn’t ready!”

Leo clicked his tongue, wand tapping in his hand. “Malfoy is not going to wait for you, Hariel. No matter how much the curtesy dictates. And that spell was pretty harmless, but it can distract your opponent. You might want to remember it for future reference.”

“What’s the incantation again?”

“It’s Vermillious. Vur-MILL-ee-us.”

“Vur-MILL-ee-us. Got it,” She tasted the word on her own tongue. And without a warning, she flicked out her wand toward Leo, “_Vermillious!_”

The red spark shot out, albeit smaller than Leo’s but it came out nonetheless. The boy dodged it easily, of course. “Hmm, not bad. See, I’m now distracted by your spell you should have a second spell ready. How about—”

They went at it for another hour. During that time, the Weasley Twins dropped by watching them for a few minutes. It seemed they had heard about her duel with Malfoy. They didn’t tell her who told them about it. But they did show Harry a useful spell called Disarming Charm. After a few minutes, the twins but not before wishing her good luck.

Harry was concentrating on the new spell; she missed a black look Hermione had given them. But the girl had stormed away without saying anything else. Harry thanked Merlin silently and went back to her practice. Ron, Declan, Dean, and Seamus also dropped by to wish her good luck. Ron had pretended Leo wasn’t there once more. Well, a little bit of improvement if anyone asked her. Leo, on the other hand, couldn’t care any less about Ron.

By ten o’clock, Elsie Reid came by and told everyone it was time to head to bed. Just as she was leaving, the older girl turned around and whispered to Harry “Good Luck” and to give that brat hell. She winked and skipped away. Harry was sure the fifth-year prefect knew about her duel as well. How? She had no idea. Perhaps, from the Weasley twins.

With a nod between Harry and Leo, they went separated ways toward their dorms. Aoife followed Harry up to the girl’s dorm, as Leo went to the boy’s side with Ryo.

Harry went through her night routine as usual—she changed into her nightgown. She brushed her hair with Sleekeazy’s. she brushed her teeth. Everything went as usual but while changing, she wore her jogger and t-shirt under her nightgown. She loudly said good night to all the girls. Aoife replied back, so were Bonnie and Parvati. Lavender already asleep. Hermione was quiet behind the curtains of her bed but Harry couldn’t care less if the girl was asleep or not.

Sliding into her bed, Harry closed her eyes but with no intention of falling asleep. Instead, she went through the breathing method of meditation. Her wristwatch was already set to alert her when the time came. She could hear Bonnie and Parvati’s quiet conversation about potion essay. The noise of Aoife’s puttering around her bed. Lavender’s snore.

All the while, Harry counted her breathing. The only she could not hear at all was Hermione. Hmm, maybe the girl learned silencing charm? Well, anything was possible. But not for long, her roommates fell asleep one after another.

As the clock struck five to eleven, her watch vibrated on her wrist. Harry opened her eyes, and quietly pulled the nightgown over her head. She didn’t want to duel Malfoy while wearing nightclothes. Harry quickly shrugged her old club-jacket on before sliding out of her bed as quietly as possible. There was a small noise of a curtain moving, Harry turned to see Aoife peeking out of her curtains. Her friend winked and gave her a thumb up without saying anything else. Harry nodded and returned her the same gesture. She craned her neck to check Hermione’s, but there was no movement at all. Harry hoped that the girl had already fallen asleep.

Her wand was still strapping on her arm. She pulled her hair up into a messy bun, and as quietly as possible she crept out of the dorm. There was no one on the stairs either. So far so good. Just as she came down from the girls’ side, she spotted two shadows from the boys’ side.

“You are here,” Leo whispered as they came to meet at the end of the stairs, the boy wore his jacket over his jogger as well. Tetsuya who had following behind, however, had a bathrobe over his night cloth. Harry blinked at the boy, but since he wasn’t the one doing the duel, she decided not to say anything.

“I’ve explained the escape routes to Tetsuya already, he’s up-to-date,” Leo whispered again as they crept across the common room. A few embers were still glowing within the fireplace, turning all the armchairs into hunched black shadows.

“Thanks for doing this,” Harry whispered to the Japanese boy.

“It is no problem,” he replied just as quietly.

They had almost reached the portrait hole when a voice called out from the nearest chair, “I can’t believe you are really doing this.”

Three wands swung toward the voice—Harry was surprised how fast Tetsuya had drawn his wand. There was a gasp before a lamp flicker on. Hermione Granger, in her pink bathrobe, stared down at the wands pointing at her.

“Oh, it’s you,” Harry clicked her tongue before withdrawing the wand from the girl’s face. Tetsuya and Leo did the same.

“Is that all you have to say?” Hermione asked shrilly. “I almost told Elsie about this reckless endeavor of yours, she’s a prefect, she’d put a stop to this nonsense.”

“Well, it wouldn’t have mattered. She happens to know about it already!” Harry chirped, “She even wished me good luck!”

Hermione’s mouth hung open at that. “You—you are lying! She’s a prefect! She wouldn’t have—”

“Believe me, or don’t. I don’t care.” Harry waved her hand and pushed the portrait open. They climbed through the door. Hermione followed them out, hissing like an angry cat.

“I can’t believe you are doing this! You don’t care about Gryffindor at all! You talked about standing up for your friend? Here I am standing up to you, for Gryffindor! I’m going to stop your stupid behav—”

Harry didn’t let the girl ranted further. She swung around and cut her off. “Oh, really? You are standing up for Gryffindors? You are going to stop us, yes? How?”

“I will—”

“Both of you, _shut up_,” Leo said with a harsh voice, freezing both of them mid-arguing. The boy glared at her and Hermione. “Are you trying to wake up the whole castle?”

Harry bit her lips and looking at Leo sheepishly. She knew part of it was her fault, but Merlin and Morgana! Hermione Granger was so irritating! She was like an itch that refused to go away. And Harry couldn’t help but poke and prodded back at the girl.

“Good! Maybe someone will stop the three of you from doing this!” Hermione crossed her arms stubbornly.

“Granger-san is very smart, but sometimes she can be pretty dumb.”

Everyone blinked and turned to see that it was Tetsuya who said it. Harry had wanted to laugh so hard but she forced herself not to. Hermione flushed red at his words; the girl bristled and opened her mouth, ready to spew the defense for herself. But the Japanese boy held his finger to his mouth, gesturing for her to be silent.

“It is not my intention to insult you, Granger-san.” The boy assured the other girl. “But if you got caught right now with the three of us, you too would be sent home.” Hermione gasped after that. “We appreciate your sentiment but perhaps, you should go back before it’s too late.”

Hermione stared at the boy for a moment, as if to formulate a response. Finally, she said, “Why you, of all people, going along with _them_?”

“Because I have given them my words, and I do not break my words.” Tetsuya replied calmly before turning to Harry, “Let’s us go, Potter-san, Black-san.” 

“Go back, Granger. If we got in trouble it will be on our head.” Leo told her.

“Fine! I will go. But I remember this when you all are on the train back home tomorrow that I’ve told you so! I can’t believe I’ve wasted—”

Hermione’s rant was cut off with a gasp. Harry and the other two boys turned around to see that and an empty portrait frame. It seemed the Fat Lady had already gone on her nighttime visit. No one was paying attention during the squabbling to noticed if she had been gone since they climbed out or she had just left. But Hermione was now locked out of the Gryffindor Tower.

“What am I going to do?!” the girl floundered.

“Well, you can wait here until the Fat Lady came back, or,” Leo paused and looked at Harry.

Eyes wide, she realized what the boy was about to suggest. “No. No way. We’re not taking her with us.”

“Good, I’m not standing here waiting for Filch to catch me. This way if he does, I can just tell them the truth that I’ve tried to stop you.” Hermione announced snidely.

Harry snorted at the girl, “Wow, Tetsuya is right, for a smart person, you are dumb.”

“Enough, both of you,” Leo said sharply. “Granger, keep your nagging to yourself, or I swear I will curse your mouth shut. Hariel, you as well. Everyone keeps to the shadow and follow me.”

No one argued with him further. The four of them flitted along the corridors striped with bars of moonlight from the high windows. No one said anything as they followed Leo’s lead, not even Hermione who looked around with eyes wide at everything. They had taken the shortest route by using the moving staircases which saved them time. Once the stair came to a stop and deposited them on the landing, the four of them tip-toed off toward the third-floor corridor. And before they knew it, they had arrived at the trophy room.

Since they were there ahead of time, Malfoy and his goons weren’t there. Leo gestured them to stay in the shadow between two display cases, just in case Filch or Mrs. Norris took a walk this way. Leo and Harry went on to check if the room had been altered after they had left earlier or not, fortunately, they found nothing. Any conversations were done in hushed tones. Hermione was surprisingly quiet.

“Hey, how is Neville? Did he stay at the hospital wing overnight?” Harry whispered to Tetsuya, who became one of Neville’s closest friends.

“No, Longbottom-san was back at the boys’ dorm since before curfew. He had been sleeping off the pain reliever potion when we left.” Tetsuya replied with his voice just as low.

“So, Madam Pomfrey fixed his arm, then? I heard it was broken. If you’re in a muggle hospital that would take months to be fixed.” Harry asked again. The other boy nodded.

“There were several breaks on his arms, so it took longer than usual.”

“He was lucky, it’s only his arms. He could have broken his neck with a fall like tha—” But Leo didn’t finish what he wanted to say. The boy stopped abruptly and held a finger to his mouth. Telling them to be quiet.

There was shuffling noises from the next room, a second later Harry saw three shadows coming closer and closer; two large and one small.

“I swear to Salazar’s grave, if that squib didn’t show up tonight, my father will hear about this!” Malfoy hissed like an angry goose as they waltzed into the trophy room, not caring about the noise they were making. There were mumbling grunts that followed but Harry couldn’t care less what his two goon’s responses were. Could they even speak in full sentences?

“I’m sure your father will hear about this regardless, cousin.” Leo took initiative and stepped out from where they had been hiding. The act startled Malfoy, the pale boy let out a girlish squeak. Harry had to bite back the grin forming on her face.

“Black, Potter, Kuroko,” He gritted his teeth and righted his posture at once. His eyes swung to each of her party, a sneer on his face. When he saw Hermione, his sneer deepened. “and the mudb—_muggleborn_. What is she even doing here?”

“Don’t mind the reason why she’s here, Malfoy. I didn’t ask you why you brought Goyle when our arrangement was just our seconds, did I?” Harry crossed her arms and looked at the Slytherin with a raised eyebrow.

“Fine. We can start as soon as Black removes his stupid spell,” the boy sneered again, his glare fell on Leo.

“Of course, cousin. Stay still, if you would.” Leo gave him a small smile, wand already in his hands. The boy lifted it and pointed toward Malfoy’s head, “_Diffluo Hexia._”

Harry watched as a flash of light appeared at the end of Leo’s wand. It didn’t shoot out and hit a target like last time in the great hall. Made-up spells or not, Leo needed to make it looked real enough. Just stringing a couple of Latin words together wasn’t going to be enough. Harry suspected the boy had done a variation of wand-lightning charm without an incantation, very advance things to do. Harry was still hopelessly behind the boy when it came to spell-work. Even Granger watched with fascination in her eyes.

The flash lasted only a few seconds before faded away. Malfoy quickly patted his head, he turned to his goons as if to ask them if everything was correctly in place. He turned around after Crabbe and Goyle just shrugged it off.

“Let’s us begin; the duelers please come forward,” Tetsuya announced and gestured for the two of them to come forward. They used the space in the middle of the room as a make-shift arena, it was quite narrow, less than five feet apart. They met in the middle; the Japanese boy gestured for them to stand with their backs together. Harry and Malfoy complied, and Tetsuya spoke again, oddly more formal than usual. “Each of you takes three steps forward, and turn around,”

Harry took a deep breath and she did, Malfoy did the same, obviously knew about the dueling etiquettes well. Tetsuya gauged the distance between the two of them, making sure either of them tried to cheat. Once he was satisfied the boy spoke, “The seconds please stand next to me, no wand will be drawn before your time to substitute, please. Whoever did, that side will be forfeit by default. The spectators please stand behind me. Same rules applied.”

Crabbe and Goyle sneered at the shorter boy but did as requested since Malfoy hissed for them to follow the rules. Hermione came to stand behind Tetsuya, but her hand was clutching the wand inside her robe. Leo stood next to the Japanese boy quietly, wand still inside his arm holster, but from the twitch of his fingers, Harry knew her friend was ready for it anytime. 

“Standard rules; No deadly spells, No physical contacts. The duel ends when once of you yield or lost consciousness, the later your second can take over the duel afterward.” Tetsuya explained once more, the wand also in his hand. He looked at both of them. “Are you agree to these rules?”

“Yes,” Harry replied, finger sliding across the holly wood of her wand.

“Yes.” Malfoy sneered the answer from where he stood. “Stop stalling, Gryffindor. It won’t help your housemate win.”

“Manners must be observed, Malfoy-san. As a British wizard, you should know that.” Tetsuya said without a pause, his face as blank as ever, there was no sneer in his voice. Harry lifted the corner of her mouth into a smirk.

Ignored Malfoy’s muttering insults, Tetsuya lifted his wand. “Duelers, bow!” Neither of them actually bowed, however. Malfoy just jerked his head, a sneer still on his face. Harry inclined her head at an acceptable angle back at him. 

“Wands at the ready,”

Malfoy lifted his wand over his head, with his other arm in front of him. His stance was practiced with the elegant arch of his arm. There was no doubt Malfoy was taught to perfect it since he was young.

Harry couldn’t let that little fact distract her. She moved into a position of her own. It wasn’t something fancy like Malfoy’s. With her wand raised at an angle in front of her, her other arm relaxed next to her. her legs slightly bent, ready to move at the moment noticed.

“At the count of three. One—Two—”

Before Tetsuya could finish, however, there was a noise coming from the next room. Everyone froze in their spots and turned toward it, even Malfoy.

“Sniff around, my sweet, I’m certain they’re hiding around here.”

It was Filch speaking to Mrs. Norris. It seemed the caretaker was on them. Tetsuya was about to signal the canceling of the duel with someone shouted—

“_Flipendo!_”

And a streak of yellow light shot out of Malfoy’s wand toward her. She side-stepped just in time to dodge the Knockback Jinx, but in doing so the spell hit one of the display cases behind her. The impact rattled the whole case. There was no break on the glass, however, the trophies inside fell on top of each other, creating loud noises that would soon alert Filch.

“Prat!” Harry hissed just in time to see Malfoy and his goons ducking out of the door during the commotion.

“Go!” Leo mouthed to the others, pointing for them to move toward the Armory. The three other Gryffindors did without any protest, just as they pulled the door of the Armory closed, Filch’s voice could be heard.

“They’re in here! I heard them!” Filch sounded so excited. But none of them stop to listen anymore. The four of them ran, as quietly as possible, down the long gallery full of suits of armors. They could Filch getting nearer and nearer, they didn’t stop to look back, with Leo in the lead, they almost reached the doorpost—

Before they could pass through successfully, one of Hermione’s bathrobe’s sleeve got caught by a piece of armor, she squeaked in panic and pulled it with all her might. As the result, the sleeve came away but so was the whole suit of armor.

The crashing and clanging were loud enough to wake the whole bloody castle.

“Merlin!” Leo hissed and pulled Hermione up to her feet. “Keep going!” He told them and Harry didn’t wait to see what he did.

She kept running, but Hermione was in the lead this time, Tetsuya was bringing up the rear. The boy didn’t look so good at running. They ran and ran, down the corridor to another. Harry had no idea where Hermione was leading them. Not until Leo caught up with them.

“You are all going the wrong way!” Leo hissed.

“Tell that to Hermione! She’s leading us!” Harry hissed back. Leo grabbed and pulled Hermione before she could turn at another corner. The girl was about to protest when they heard the laughter floating in the air. Peeves was around here somewhere, and the poltergeist would no doubt gave their location away—just for fun.

“Take a right, now!” Leo hissed and shoved them all toward what looked like a Charms corridor. Several doors lined the wall. “Pick a door, Hurry!”

“They’re all locked!” Harry tried all the door she could, both Peeves and Filch could be heard just around the corner now.

“Which way did they go, Peeves?” Filch was saying, “Did you see?”

“Use your wand!” Leo hissed and he cast a smokescreen in the corridor, probably in the hope to obscure their pursuers. Tetsuya was bending over his knees, breathing heavily. Hermione’s hair was just as frazzled as her pale face.

Harry picked the door at the end of the corridor—just because it was the one closest to her, jammed her wand at the doorknob, and snarled, “_Alohomora!_” 

The lock clicked and the door swung opened, Harry shoved Hermione in first before pulling a wheezing Tetsuya in with her. Leo followed and slammed the door shut just as quickly. Everyone but Tetsuya—who was still trying his breathing back—had their ears pressed against the wooden door, listening.

“Don’t mess with me, Peeves, now tell me where did they go?” Filch sounded irritated, there was meowing noise that followed, no doubt, belong to Mrs. Norris.

“Shan’t say nothing if you don’t say please,” Harry could hear Peeve said in his singsong voice.

“All right—_Please_.”

“NOTHING!! Hahah! Told you I wouldn’t say nothing if you didn’t say please! Ha ha Haaaaa!!” And then there were several whooshing noises and Filch cursing in rage, the meowing followed him. The sounds started to move away but no one had moved for their spots. For the moment they were relatively safe.

Harry took a deep breath, letting her head thumped against the wooden door. Tetsuya was still wheezing, trying to catch his breath back. The boy had couched down with his head bent over.

“Not one for running, eh?” Harry teased as she looked at the Japanese boy.

Tetsuya glanced up from where he was, his pale eyes narrowed down just a fraction, “Potter-san, do—be—quiet,” he said between breaths. 

Harry was about to laugh at him when she was shushed suddenly by Leo. “Shh! Don’t—make—any—sound.”

Leo mouth the words slowly just as everyone turned to look at the taller boy. He had his finger to his lips, before he slowly moved it away, and pointed forward at something in front of them.

Harry’s eyes followed his finger and then she saw—no, this could not be happening! On top of everything else that happened tonight, she could not believe _what_ was in front of her eyes. 

They were not in a classroom, not at all. They were in a corridor. It was quite dark, but with the moonlight streaming through the high windows, all four of them could see clearly the sleeping form of an enormous body. It was obviously canine, its gigantic size wasn’t the only problem, however. It was the head or heads. Three identical heads slumped on the huge paws. Soft snores were coming out from each of the heads, some saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs every time it breathed out.

Hermione let out a high pitch scream but it was immediately smothered by a hand over her mouth. Tetsuya had sprung from his hunching to cover her mouth with his hand. But it was too late, the noise had already alerted the beast. One of the six eyes popped open and looked right at them. And the next second, all six of them were opened. The beast lifted itself up towering over them, growling thunderously.

“Good doggie?” Harry said lamely.

“_Fumos!_” Thick fog streamed out of Leo’s wand and floated out in front of them, obscuring the beast from seeing them. But everyone knew that the fog wasn’t going to save them from becoming doggy’s snacks. Leo hissed for them, “Go!”

Tetsuya was the quickest and pushed the door open. He all but dragged a shocking Hemione out before Leo and Harry scrambled after. Between Filch and the multiple-heads dog a size of Hagrid’s hut, they’d rather take Filch.

As soon as the door was slammed shut, all four of them ran once more. Filch and his cat must have gone off to look somewhere else. Because there was no sign of him anywhere, not that they had time to care. All of them ran as fast as they could, good thing that it was Leo who led them this time. Through the correct moving staircase, they reached the seventh floor in no time. Finally, they arrived back at the portrait of the Fat Lady, who thankfully was back where she was.

“Where have you all been?!” she asked, looking at the untidy clothes and sweats pouring out on their faces.

“Never mind that—Pig snout!” Harry panted out the password when she saw Tetsuya starting to sway sideways. Leo was quick to grab the other boy before he could fell over. The portrait swung open, and the four of them scrambled inside. Tetsuya collapsed on the floor right when they were inside the safety of the common room.

Harry took a deep breath and sat down with her legs stretch out on the floor next to the boy’s collapsed form. Hermione was panting in the armchair nearby. Leo looked winded but still standing straight.

“That was the Charms corridor, wasn’t it?” Harry said. “Why in the bloody hell did they have a Cerberus in school full of children?!”

“It’s obviously guarding something,” Leo rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Cerberus or a type of hellhound, a mythical beast said to guard the gates of the underworld—”

“Are you saying that corridor was the gates to the underworld?” Harry suggested, she knew it was lame but she couldn’t help it.

“Of course not!” Hermione snapped from where she sat. She seemed to have recovered her breathing, so was the girl’s bad temper. “Didn’t any of you see what it was standing on?”

“No, I was too busy looking at its fangs, thank you very much.” Harry snapped back at the girl. “At least I didn’t scream my head off and almost get us all eaten—”

“Of course, I do,” Leo quickly cut Harry off. She glared at him for it. He ignored her. “It’s a trapdoor. It’s clearly guarding something.”

“Well, whatever it is, you better leave it alone!” Hermione stood up, sniffed with her nose high, she glared at the both of them. “Now, if you don’t mind, I am going to bed before either of you come up with another idea that could have gotten us all killed—or worse, expelled!”

Hermione sniffed one last time before stormed away toward the girls’ dorm.

“That girl needs to sort out her priorities,” Harry jibed once the girl was out of their earshot. She turned and glanced down at Tetsuya’s stilled form. Harry poked him with her finger. The boy just grunted something unintelligent back at her. “Is he okay?”

Leo looked at the shorter boy. “He will be fine after a few minutes. He probably has a delicate constitution.” And then he sat down at the armchair nearby. To Tetsuya, Leo said, “Maybe you need some exercises to strengthen your body,”

The boy grunted again but this time it was not unintelligent. “Black-san, please leave me alone. My body is fine.”

“You may be fine, but I’m not.” Harry stretched the arms over her head. “It’s only two weeks and I am already feeling it. I think we’ll need to split sometimes on our schedule for exercises. There’s no way I’m letting my body’s condition deteriorate more than this.”

“I agree, at least we can jog in the morning. But let’s see how your Quidditch practice looking,” Leo suggested as he wiped the sweats off his forehead. “When did you say the practice started again?”

“Wood said, next week,” Harry told him and crossed her legs. Tetsuya was still unmoving. She looked at her longtime friend, “Hey, do you think what that dog is guarding had something to do with that news clipping Hagrid kept?”

Leo paused mid-motion and turned to look at her, “Well…. it’s a possibility. Short of asking him outright, I don’t think Hagrid will tell you anything.”

Harry frowned, “You know, I just recalled something Hagrid said when he took me to Gringotts the first time. He said that _Gringotts was the safest place in the world for something you wanted to hide—except perhaps Hogwarts_. I thought he sounded a little exaggerated then but now that I thought about it—Do you think they are hiding something here inside the castle?”

Leo had a thoughtful look on his face. “If that’s true then, the thing they’re hiding might belong to Dumbledore,”

“And the professors are helping him protecting it?” Harry added her opinion.

“I think—” Tetsuya, finally sat up. The color seemed to be back on his face, or Harry thought it did, it was still pretty dark in the common room since none of them had bothered lighting any lamp.

“Whoa, welcome back to the land of the living,” Harry told the boy cheekily.

“I think,” Tetsuya repeated, giving her a side-eyed look, “Whatever the beast is guarding, we should leave it alone. They’re keeping it inside a school, it cannot be something dangerous.”

Harry snorted, “Tell that to the _Cerberus_.”

“Exactly. It is under the beast’s protection, anyone with sense would not go looking for it.” Tetsuya stressed the last part, seemingly at her. “It is too bad that the duel ended the way it was. After a few weeks I’ve sent in Malfoy-san’s company, I should have expected him to try and cheated an honorable duel that he instigated.” He lamented, before trying to stand up on his wobbly legs.

Leo sighed and shook his head. “You and me both.”

“Nevertheless, have a good night, Potter-san, Black-san.” Tetsuya had only walked for a few steps before his legs gave out; the boy almost went down sideways again. Leo caught him just in time to save his dignity. 

“Here, let me help you. It’s the least I can do since you’ve almost got caught with us,” Leo turned and looked at Harry who still sprawling on the carpeted floor. “You should go to bed, too. Before someone else came down and find you. Good night.”

Leo said goodbye and helped the shorter boy walked toward the boys’ dorm, leaving Harry alone inside the dark common room.

Harry's thoughts were still running wide inside her head. The dog might have been really guarding the package Hagrid had moved that day. That meant Harry had just found the location that grubby little package had been moved to. It was none other than Hogwarts.

“It’s not like I can solve it all tonight,” She mumbled to herself and got up. And as quietly as possible tip-toeing back up the spiral staircase to the girls’ dorm. There was no movement at all when Harry crept toward her bed. Perhaps, Hermione had already fallen asleep?

Taking off her jacket and undid her hair, Harry quickly slid back into her bed. And as usual, the bed was warm and welcome. She pulled the sheet up to her chin, her toes curled for a few minutes. In less than ten minutes she fell into a deep sleep, the excitement of the night forgotten, at least until the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Ps ::** Once again, sorry about the late update. This chapter was done for a while but I didn’t even have time to get on the laptop just to post it, that how busy I was.   
The story is going a bit slow for now. I’m trying to keep the pacing the same as the canon in the book. But the plot will pick up soon.   
Until the next chapter, stay safe everyone!


	11. Year 1 Part 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Leo deal with the Aftermath of the midnight duel. And well….Halloween happens. Yikes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Warning ::** Female!Harry. Crossover. AU. No Beta. My grammar is as bad as house-elf. (very)Slow Burn. This is not a fix-it story, something will be better and something will be worse. This fic is also cross-posted only on two places; FF.net and AO3.
> 
> **A/N ::** I know I sound like a broken record saying sorry for the late update. But when Real-life hits you, there's nothing you can do but endure, right? Much love to everyone who fav/follow/review/comment/kudo/sub this story!
> 
> Anyway, here is chapter 11!

**Chapter 11 :: Year 1 Part 6  
Something Wicked.**

The morning after Harry and Malfoy's unfinished duel, Leo and Harry took their time to retell everything that happed the night before—including their unfortunate encounter with the three-heads dog, to their two friends. Aoife was disappointed she couldn't see the infamous canine for herself. Ryo, however, looked relieved he missed the opportunity to meet the said dog entirely.

From the smug look on Malfoy was spotting on the next day, Leo had guessed that his cousin also escaped Filch's clutch. The look didn't stay on his face for long, however. Because within the very same day, someone had leaked the result of the infamous Duel between Harry and Malfoy.

Rumors had it; Malfoy had cheated by shooting a spell before the counting was done. Therefore, was forfeit by default. He also ran away from the duel afterward. Some of the rumors went like this;

_"They said that boy tried to set a trap for Potter."_

_"Wait, wasn't he the one who challenged her for a duel in the first place?"_

_"Yes! My sister was sitting at Gryffindor's table when he issued the challenge."_

_"My friend from Slytherin said that he heard Malfoy bragged about that with those two goons of his!"_

_"What a cheat, not surprising from a snake though."_

The rumors spread like a wildfire, even the students from other houses gossiped about them. By the time Dinner came, half of the Great Hall were whispering behind their hands while glancing at Leo's cousin—much to the pale boy's irritation.

Several of the upper-year Gryffindors even congratulated Harry on her win. When the rumors reached their fellow first-years; Ron Weasley looked at Harry with stars in his eyes. He still sneered at Leo, though. It seemed the redhead was still sour about their argument from before. The rest of their classmates—with exception of Hermione—looked at Harry with stars in their eyes. But none were brave enough to ask her the full details of the event.

"It would have been better, if I had _actually_ defeated him, though," Harry told Lee Jordan sincerely. Leo noticed she fingered her holstered wand.

"Spoken like a true Gryffindor! Keep up the good work, Potter!" The older boy slapped her playfully on her shoulder, hard enough Harry almost fell out of her seat, before the boy departed with skipping steps.

"Good job, Potter," Elsie suddenly appeared as if materialized out of nothing from behind Ryo, the half-Japanese boy yelped in surprised at the fifth-year Prefect's appearance. Leo mused at the older girl's mischievous antics as he watched Elsie patted Harry on the shoulder, much gentler than Lee's congratulated slap on his friend's back. However, the older girl leaned down and added in a hushed tone, "But perhaps, try to sneak around Filch better next time. It's a good thing I heard the commotion while patrolling and got Filch's attention away from you in time."

"Sorry, it wasn't my fault someone decided to trip the row of armors during our escape." Harry flushed a little as she muttered the older girl.

"Thank you for your intervention. We are grateful for it." Leo added with an elbow to Harry's side.

"Ow!" His friend yelped and rubbed the abused spot. But added with a pout, "Yes, Elsie, thanks a lot."

"As long as you don't tell Perce any of this. That boy will rant at me about the responsibility of a prefect for hours—if he'd ever found out."

"Our lips are sealed." Harry did the zipping gesture over her mouth. Ryo and Aoife repeated it over theirs as an assurance. Leo just nodded his confirmation.

"See that you do, firsties," Elsie said with a wink before strode away. Harry let out a long exhale before pausing as if feeling the gaze from everyone around her. To no one's surprised the rest of the students were eavesdropping on their earlier conversations all along.

"Anyone else has more questions?" A smile painted across her face but her eyes glinted dangerously. Displeasure radiated off her in waves, as if daring for anyone to actually try and ask her. Ron opened his mouth by was quickly interrupted by Seamus and Declan. Everyone else shook their heads or immediately turned back to their meals.

Satisfied, Harry said, "I didn't think so."

Leo forced himself not to roll his eyes at her antics. But because of these conversations, anyone who had listened in realized that the event had unofficially been confirmed to happen. This only served to fan the flame of the rumors even more. The students from other houses, even some from Slytherins sniggered and whispered when they passed Malfoy in the corridor, calling him a coward (though mostly behind his back).

Malfoy was furious, of course. But he could do nothing about it. Since trying to defend himself from the rumors was also admitting that he had gone to the said duel in the first place. Something which he adamantly denied ever happened. His cousin could do nothing but shooting them glares and black looks.

"My father will hear about this, Black! Don't think I didn't know it was you who starts those baseless rumors!" Malfoy hissed at them several days later outside Transfiguration classroom. Behind him, his two large goons puffed themselves up maniacally, no doubt trying to intimidate them. Aoife crossed her arms and glared back at them in retaliation. Ryo slid himself in front of Harry as if to shield her from them.

"I do not doubt it, he will know of _your_ version, I am sure," Leo commented nonchalantly.

"Is it a rumor, if it was true?" Harry smirked from where she stood behind Ryo.

Leo continued before the pale boy could speak, "But just so you know, it wasn't me who tell anyone about it."

"As if I'll believe a word of a squib—"

"Is there a problem?" A stern voice said from behind them, everyone turned around to see Professor McGonagall looking down at them with thinned lips.

"Not at all, Professor. We are just telling Malfoy not to put too much stock into some rumors." Harry told her with a cheeky smile.

Leo saw the corner of her mouth twitched as she looked at each one of them. Something passed behind the aged green eyes, a recognition? No, a nostalgia perhaps? "A wise word, Miss Potter. You should listen to her Mister Malfoy."

The pale boy, however, said nothing. He sneered before rudely stormed away, his two gorillas trailed after without words. Aoife sniggered at their retreating back, Harry did a little finger waved.

"You four should go on, lunch is starting soon." Professor McGonagall told them sternly, but before she turned to leave, their Head of House said to them, "Oh, and before I forgot, five points to Gryffindor to standing your ground."

The four of them stared as Professor McGonagall strode away back inside her office. Could it be that she also heard about the infamous duel? Or that points were purely just from that conversation alone?

"So, you weren't the one who started those rumors then?" Ryo asked after they had recovered from the shock and started making their way to the great hall for lunch.

"I was not." He told his friend truthfully.

"Well, it can't be Hermione. She's still pretending the both of us do not exist." Harry commented.

True. Hermione Granger had now refused to talk to either of them. She still talked to Aoife and Ryo, albeit shortly with her replies. Leo knew that his longtime friend had thought it was a good thing. Because Hermione finally stopped nagging her. Leo was indifferent about it. As a result of that night event, Hermione also stopped talking to Tetsuya as well. The quiet boy, though, didn't look too broken up about it. Leo did feel a bit sorry for the girl for further isolating herself from the rest of her peers.

Three weeks into the first term and the circles of friends were starting to take shape within the first-year Gryffindors—First were none other than the three Gryffindor girls; Bonnie, Lavender, and Parvati. Harry had dubbed them the _Giggling Trio,_ who spent their time talking about good-looking boys, clothes, fashions, and Horoscope. Next were Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Declan; the all-boys group or simply _the Boys_. They seemed to be enjoying life at school to the fullest, they ate, played, and sometimes studied. Not caring about the nagging of Hermione or anyone.

Then, the four of them. Leo could tell that Harry now felt much more at ease with the two new friends she had made. And Leo had to admitted that he felt that way as well. Neither of them cared about her fame or his family's reputation; Aoife had known them before they'd started school. And Ryo was grateful he wasn't the one in the limelight this time. The half-Japanese boy also gave her sound advice about how to deal with being famous. Leo had built the foundation for her, years before Hogwarts by letting her did her own things. But it was Ryo who was teaching her how to deal with the situations. Most of the time, Harry even listened to him.

The last three Gryffindors, who were once a tentative group, were now separated. Neville and Tetsuya stuck together, while Hermione drove herself away from them because she hadn't like what Tetsuya said to her that night. Although, she still occasionally tried to help Neville in class.

Thinking about the Japanese boy, that reminded him something—

"There is only one other person who knew the whole truth that night," said Leo. Because of rumors or not, the details spreading around were quite accurate.

Harry halting in her steps, her eyes wide. "But that's—"

As if knowing her thoughts, both Aoife and Ryo followed Harry's gaze toward the pair of boys walking ahead of them. Neville was complaining about the difficulty of the recent Transfiguration essay to Tetsuya.

Leo had asked the Japanese boy in private since the rumors had started. Tetsuya, while saying that it wasn't him who started the rumors. Leo could not miss the glint in his eyes. There was no doubt, the boy had something to do with it, even if he wasn't the start the rumors himself. Leo knew that to be true, even without confirmation. Tetsuya also knew that Leo knew it was him. But neither of them said anything else, excepted smiled at each other knowingly.

Like someone once said, it was always the quiet one.

If he was to guess the boy's motive for doing this, it might have been payback for what Malfoy had put them through after the unfinished duel. Tetsuya must really hate running.

"I already asked him," Leo said to his friends, "He had insisted that he had no idea what I was talking about."

Ryo snorted through his nose. "Malfoy must have royally pissed him off."

"I think it was all the running he had to do. He looked dead afterward." Harry commented.

"And since the git didn't know who did it, he's convinced either of you have something to do with it," Aoife said.

"He's blaming me no matter what," Leo sighed.

"He's going to keep trying to get us in trouble," said Harry.

And Harry's words proved to be true. Days after the confrontation outside Transfiguration classroom Malfoy and his minions, as well as Pansy Parkinson and her gang—consisted of Drusilla Carrow, Rhiannon Fawley, and Millicent Bulstrode—had spent every opportunity of their encounters throwing insults their ways. Whether it was during class, as they passed in the corridor, or at mealtimes.

It was especially bad during the shared Potions class with Slytherins, where Snape had turned blind eyes to the treatment. He even awarded them points for _telling the truth_. Parkinson and her friends kept going at it while Malfoy sat back and watched. Until Harry took the plunge and raised her hand.

"What is it now, Potter? Are you so incompetent that you don't know what to do with your assignment now that you are not sitting with Black?" Snape sneered at his friend. Snape had paired the students himself and had them all worked on Herbicide Potion. Harry was with a Slytherin girl named Tracy Davis, while Leo was paired with another Slytherin, a boy named Blaise Zabini.

Harry ignored the jibe and put her hand down, "Oh, Davis and I are fine, Professor. I just have a question unrelated to the class."

Even from the other side of the room where he was working with Zabini, Leo could see the glints in Harry's eyes, as well as Davis's panicking face.

"_What_ is it, then?" The potion professor's lips curled up.

Harry's smile was vicious and full of teeth. "I was wondering if you have taken your students to get their shots?"

The whole class went quiet for a long minute. Snape halted whatever he was doing and turned fully to Harry. Davis moved to the other end of the seat, looking like she didn't want to be there at all. Not waiting for the older man's response. Harry continued as if nothing was wrong. "You see, I've grown up with muggles. So, I wasn't sure about what wizards do with their canines. But Vaccine shots for rabies are required by law."

"And how is it that muggle medicine has anything to do with my class?"

"Well, I'm just worried, Professor. Rabies is fatal, after all. And some of your students looked absolutely _feral_, especially Parkinson," she paused, and looked at Davis, ignoring the outrage cries from Parkinson who sat not too far away. "Hey, Davis. Do some of your roommates take shower regularly? You know dogs with rabies are afraid of water—"

"Enough!" Snape snapped, "You think you so clever, don't you, Potter? Five points from Gryffindors for the idiotic and unnecessary comment!"

Harry just shrugged and mumbled something about asking Professor McGonagall, she went back to crushing lionfish spine. Davis, who was her partner was still frozen in place until her Head of House stormed away to hover over Neville.

"Your friend is absolutely mental," Blaise Zabini commented, glancing toward where Harry and Davis went back to work on their potion.

"You are not wrong," Leo sighed and went back to his work.

The insults kept going for days afterward. Parkinson seemed to make it her life mission to insult Harry at every chance she got; throwing the jibes and snide remarks about anything from Harry's scar on her head to her blood status, to her choices of friends. While Harry did the same thing by throwing any related canine comments she could think of. Malfoy did the same to him as well. But Leo mostly ignored the boys and his ilk, letting Harry and his friends retorted back without saying anything.

One morning, exactly a week after that faithful night at the trophy room, everyone's attention was caught by the arrival of a small fleet of owls at Gryffindor table.

Six of screeching owls had carried a long, thin package. The owls dropped the large parcel, wrapped with brown papers right in front of Harry, sending foods and drinks everywhere, but no one had cared enough. They were still too amazed about the package to complain. Another owl dropped a letter on top of the parcel for Harry right afterward.

Leo was wiping the water stain from the front of his robe when Harry elbowed his arm and show him the letter. It said:

_DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE.  
_ _It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I don't want everybody to know you've got a broomstick or they'll want one._  
_Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the Quidditch field at seven o'clock for your first training session.  
_ _Professor M. McGonagall_

"Two Thousand, that's the newest model," Leo commented as they both looked to the High Table where the teachers sat. Professor McGonagall lifted her goblet and winked at them, which Harry returned with a hand salute and bright smile.

Harry's green eyes were bright as she slid her hands along the wrapped package. Even without opening it, everyone with eyes could see that it was shaped like a broomstick. The rest of the Gryffindor table were also in awe, even though they didn't know what model of Broomstick Harry had just received. Ron, Seamus, the Weasley Twins, and Lee Jordan got up from their seats and were pooling around Harry, asking her to open it. Leo spotted the burly Gryffindor Captain—Oliver Wood, also craned his neck to see from where he sat.

"Can't, Professor McGonagall said not to do it at the table." Harry smiled and told them. "I can tell you the model though if you promise to keep it a secret?"

There was a chorus of yes before everyone leaned forward. Harry grinned and told them in a hushed voice, "It's Nimbus Two Thousand,"

Ron gasped, "Nimbus Two—" his mouth was quickly covered by his older brothers.

"Didn't you hear—" George started,

"—what our Spitfire said—" Fred followed,

"We have to keep it a secret!" The twins finished together.

"Fine!" Ron pushed his brothers' hands away, he looked apologetically at Harry. "Sorry, I forgot. But, wow, I've never even _touched_ one."

"Maybe I'll let you, but after I try it out, of course!" Harry grinned. "You too, Fred and George!"

"Really! You are the best!" Ron gushed.

"Generous, very generous!" Fred exclaimed with a smile.

"When are you meeting with Oliver?" George asked,

"At seven, tonight!" Harry reread the letter and told them.

"Great! Maybe we will see you tonight!" The twins announced before departed with Lee Jordan. Ron and Seamus were still standing around, looking longingly at the wrapped parcel.

"Hey, not to rush anyone but when everyone is done, can I go back to the dorm and opened it?" Harry asked them excitedly.

"Sure, I'm almost done!" Ryo said.

"Same here," Aoife said distractedly, she was reading some letter from home and was barely paid the broom any attention.

Leo said nothing but nodded back at Harry. Since they still have sometime before Transfiguration on the first period.

Soon, the four of them left the great hall. Harry almost skipping in her step, holding the parcel in her hand as they made their way back to Gryffindor Tower. They were about halfway across the entrance hall when they found their ways blocked by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy came out of nowhere and seized the package from Harry. Or at least tried to, but Harry with her quick reflex swung it out of his reach just in time that all the other boy could grab was the edge of the brown wrapping.

Malfoy didn't let go easily, he pulled on the paper. It ripped away, showing the polished handle of the broom underneath. His grey eyes were wide at the sight of it.

"That's a broomstick," he spat, a malicious smile painted on his face. "And since, first years aren't allowed them. You'll be in for it now, Potter. I will see to it!"

"I'd like to see you try, Malfoy." Harry threw a snarl back at him. Leo could see she wasn't happy that someone had taken the first chance to peel the wrap away, even though it wasn't intentional. "What are you going to do, huh? Write home and tell your daddy about it?"

"No," said Malfoy. "I will take it to Professor Snape myself!" He made a grab for the broom again but this time Harry was ready—they were ready.

She shoved the broom to Ryo who was standing in the back of the group and stomped hard on Crabbe's feet. Aoife did the same with Goyle, the two large boys went down with a cry. Meanwhile, Leo side-stepped Malfoy who tried to lunge at them, he lifted his foot just a little. Malfoy tripped on it and fell down on the floor in heap. The four of them took this chance to step over the Slytherins' fallen forms.

In Leo's mind, they should have just walked away. He knew being petty for what the boy's father did wasn't a dignified thing to do. But in his eleven years old body, it wasn't easy. And the other boy had not made it easy. All the malicious remarks throwing their ways; the slurs about Ryo's being a Muggleborn, Aoife's being an uncultured Yank, and Leo's being a blood-traitor squib; all of it had not endeared the pale boy to any of them.

And Harry, Harry also didn't make it easy for anyone. While Harry usually quick to forgive, Malfoy and Parkinson seemed to be the exception to the rules.

Sometimes, Leo wondered if Harrys from other realities were just like his.

The girl had a small vicious grin on her face. As they watched the three Slytherins tangled up in their robes, struggling to get their footing back. Aoife looked like a cat that just ate a canary. Even Ryo who was neutral most of the time was looking at them with amusement in his eyes.

"You useless trolls!" Malfoy finally scrambled back to his feet; his pale face pinked with anger. He was screaming at Crabbe and Goyle for not helping him up. The two large boys were still hopping on their feet. How hard did Harry and Aoife stomp on them; Leo wondered?

"What is going on here?" Professor Flitwick suddenly materialized at Malfoy's elbow. "No fighting, I hope?"

"Oh, Malfoy just being clumsy, Professor," Aoife told their Charms teacher with a bright smile.

"Professor, Potter's got a broomstick!" Malfoy said quickly pointing at Harry who blinked, there was nothing in her hand, however. Realized, the broom was still in Ryo's hand, Malfoy quickly swung his finger toward the blond boy. Professor Flitwick's followed Malfoy's pointing finger.

"Oh, I've heard about the circumstance from McGonagall, is it here already? What model is it?" The short professor craned his neck. Ryo quickly handed the package back to Harry. She took it back and cradled it in her hands like a precious baby.

"Yes, Professor!" She replied with a smile full of teeth. "And it's Nimbus Two Thousand, sir."

"Two Thousand! The best in the market at the moment I've heard!" Professor Flitwick beamed at Harry, not noticing the horror look on Malfoy's face at all. "I can't wait to see what you can do with it, Miss Potter."

"Thank you, Professor. I hope I don't disappoint!" She paused and looked at Malfoy for a second, "You know, Malfoy. I forgot to thank you! It's because of you that I've got this at all!"

Professor Flitwick clapped his hands good-naturedly squeaked about 'Wonderful show of School's spirit!' before leaving for the great hall. Leo grabbed Harry's shoulder and shoved her forward before the girl could say anything else. Aoife and Ryo followed with a big smile on their faces. No one waited for Malfoy to realized what Harry had just said before the boy erupted in obvious rage and confusion.

Once they arrived at the Gryffindor tower, the four of them climbed through the portrait hole. Not many people were around since it was still breakfast time. But Leo noticed the white blob of furs, curled itself into a ball in one of the armchairs, the twitch of triangle-shaped ears and fluffy tail told him that this was Touka—Tetsuya's fox familiar.

Leo still remembered the first time, Tetsuya introduced Touka to the rest of the Gryffindors. All the girls cooed at him; the boys were amazed that Tetsuya was allowed to bring a pet fox. Some did not understand the difference between a pet and a familiar and protested that it wasn't fair that they couldn't bring their own pets to Hogwarts. This led to Professor McGonagall's intervention, who had to explain the circumstance. The protests died down after that. And the fox kit had been well-behaved, no one could contest that.

However, Touka spent most of his time inside the Gryffindor common room whenever Tetsuya was in class. Because he famously did not get along with Ron's Scabbers. The fox tried to eat the old rat a few times, and only stopped when Tetsuya told him no. But Ron still looked at the fox with suspicious eyes.

_"I apologized, Weasley-san. Perhaps it's an instinct for a fox to hunt its prey. Scabbers fall into the prey category. That's a fact." Leo recalled how Tetsuya told the redhead. "But I will remind Touka again to look elsewhere for foods."_

_Ron didn't look happy, but since the way Tetsuya said it was so polite, the boy could do nothing but let it go. "Just don't let it happen again!"_

To be honest, even his owl—Bruce was eyeing Scabbers like he was the next meal. Leo must admit the rat was fat and perhaps looked delicious to some animals. Leo firmly told his owl not to bother the rat because the tension between him and Ron was already high. Bruce didn't look happy but listened to him and moved to spent his time stalking Harry's owl as per usual.

The fox kit lifted its head when heard the noise of their arrival, but flopped back to sleep once he knew they weren't any danger.

"You need to stop egging him on, you are making things worse." Leo finally said.

"You did it too!" Harry retorted mildly. "Why am I the one at fault? Besides, it's true, isn't it? If he hadn't stolen Neville's Remembrall I wouldn't be on the team and get this broom…" Harry pouted at him. Aoife and Ryo laughed knowingly that Leo couldn't deny his longtime friend when she did that.

Leo felt the urge to bang his head against something hard. "Hariel…." He said warningly.

Harry rolled her eyes and waved her free hand as if to dismiss the topic. She laid the parcel on one of the sofas carefully, the three of them circled around it and was about to unwrap the rest of the brown papers when a familiar voice came from behind them.

"I supposed you think you're terribly clever, aren't you?" They turned around to see Hermione stormed toward them, hair puffed up like an angry pufferfish, hands on her hips, her heavy book bag swung back and forth slamming into anything in her way.

"You shouldn't be rewarded for breaking rules like that!" she told them angrily, a disapproving look on her face.

Harry's narrowed her eyes at the girl and Leo held the urge to sigh.

Not another one!

He looked at his other friends in hope that they would help stop Harry from retorting back. But All he saw was scowling Aoife and Ryo's faces. Even Ryo who was neutral toward Hermione most of the time was spotted with an annoyed look on his face.

"I'm not being rewarded for breaking rules, _Harmony_." Harry purposely used the wrong name. "I was rewarded for being able to dive fifty-feet down without breaking my neck. Can you do the same?"

"I don't see if any of it was any important—"

"Well, there you go!" Harry clapped her hands, cutting the other girl off. "_You_ don't see it. But Professor McGonagall sees it. If you have any problem, why don't you go and talk to _her_, huh?"

Hermione glared at all of them, before marching away with her nose in the air, startling Touka awake in the process. The fox yipped disapprovingly at her but the girl paid no mind. Leo sighed in relief, at least the argument was short this time.

"She's a little rude, isn't she?" Ryo comment once the girl had left through the portrait hole, clearly heading to class.

"She's more than rude," Aoife said and crossed her arms. "I felt bad for her, she's not making any friends. But her nosiness is putting people off. If she doesn't stop, she's going to break one day."

"I told you…she's _Carrie_ in the making!" Harry grouched.

"Perhaps, you should give her a chance, Hariel. I know for a fact that she's not a bad person, just a little rigid and opinionated." Leo suggested carefully, his longtime friend lifted her head to look at him with disbelieve in her eyes. "You remember, don't you? About how you and I were treated for being different?"

"I…." Her green eyes flashed at his words before looking away. Obviously remembered the unpleasant memories. Leo didn't needle her further. Harry clearly needed sometimes to think on the issue for herself. Aoife looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Ryo didn't look at him but had a pensive on his face.

"Let's hurry, shall we? We have less than twenty minutes before Transfiguration starts." Leo prompted, knowing this thing with Hermione wouldn't be solved within the day.

"Right," Harry muttered and looked back down at the parcel again. Without any other words, she methodically unwrapped the package, starting with untied all the twines holding the brown papers in place, before peeling layers of the wrappers away. After long five minutes, there laid Nimbus Two Thousand. Shiny and sleek with its mahogany handled, polished to perfection. It had a long tail of neat straight twigs. The word 'Nimbus Two Thousand' is written in gold near the top of the handle.

Even Leo—who was no connoisseur on broomstick could see that it was a very prettily-made broomstick. And if its reputation on the market was anything to go by, it was currently the fastest one as well.

"Wow, Professor McGonagall clearly spares no expenses for this," Aoife commented.

"I'm a muggleborn and I can see this thing cost more than this year's tuition," Ryo said absently, "And it's very pretty—ouch!"

Aoife elbowed him in his side, "This broom is more than just pretty,"

"I know _that_! I just like appreciating pretty things!" Ryo defended himself. Leo ignored the byplays and looked at Harry who had gone quiet.

His longtime friend had her gaze fixed on the broom as if mesmerizing. Her green eyes shone under the sunlight streaming in from the windows as her hands hover above the broomstick, barely touching it. She was lost in her head again.

Ryo and Aoife looked questioningly at him, but Leo could do nothing but shrugged.

"I will make you proud, Dad. I will," Harry muttered quietly to herself.

The three of them pretended not to see the tears brimming in their friend's eyes.

**: : : : : :**

On that same evening, once dinner was done, Harry all but flew back to Gryffindor Towers to change into something appropriated for training. Leo reminded her not to forget to ask Wood for training schedules. He had gone to see Professor McGonagall earlier that day to ask about the morning jog idea. Since they were still first-years, they needed permissions from the Head of House first before went down and do it willy-nilly. The older witch looked at them in surprise but she told them that as long as it wasn't disturbing the Quidditch Practice, she had no problem with it.

Harry promised to ask Wood before skipped away with Nimbus Two Thousand in hands, waving back at all the well-wishers calling after her. His friend would head down the Quidditch field for her first training, leaving the three of them by themselves.

Leo expressed that he had wanted to visit the library to finish his homework, Ryo agreed to go with him. But Aoife excused herself saying that she needed to talk to Professor McGonagall about something. The two boys left her to her business while they made their way to the library.

Hogwarts Library was one of the places of wonders within Hogwarts Castle. It located off the corridor on the first floor attaching to the training ground tower. The library occupied several floors and was filled with thousands of books on almost every subject, with the more dangerous ones walled off inside the Restricted Section, where the students could gain access by having a permission slip from one of the teachers. If the Black library wasn't so specific on certain topics as well as family's magic, Leo had no doubt it would have put his family's library to shame.

The library was overseen by a stern-looking witch named Madam Pince, who saw herself as a guardian and protector of all the books in the library. Therefore, she was always at odds with any students who tried to use them. But as long as you did not vandalize the library, talked loudly, and followed the strict rules set by her, she wasn't so bad.

Today was Thursday night, surprisingly sparse of students. Perhaps it was still early in the term yet. Leo and Ryo had no problem finding a free table away from everyone. They saw Hermione sitting several seats away with her head buried in a large pile of books, writing furiously on the parchment. Leo left her to her business as he and Ryo sat down and pulled out their homework.

After half an hour, Leo finished all the homework for the day; He reread his Transfiguration essay once more to check for any mistakes. Ryo was still neck-deep in his own work when he felt someone looking at him. Turning in his seat, he saw Neville and Tetsuya looking his way, there was another boy in Ravenclaw robe sitting with them as well.

Leo tilted his head in acknowledgment to the boys. Neville and the other boy flushed a little at getting caught but Tetsuya stood up and walked toward him. Even Ryo looked up from his essay when he felt someone at their table.

"Good evening, Black-san, Kise-san." Tetsuya greeted, as polite as ever.

Ryo grinned at the boy and gave him a half-wave, "Hiya, Tetsuya-kun!"

Leo pretended not to see the twitch on Tetsuya's temple at Ryo's familiarity, and said, "Good evening."

"I was wondering if Black-san had finished his History of Magic essay yet. Neville-san—" Neville let out protesting noises from where he sat, "–needs help with his and I am not proficient in the history of Magical Britain. Do you mind helping us out, if you have some time?"

Leo stared at the boy, as he stared back at him. Not too far away, Neville made weird noises again. It was clear that the other boy didn't want his help at all. Especially when Harry wasn't here to be some sort of buffer between the two of them. Neville still refused to interact directly with him if the boy could help it. And It seemed Tetsuya was determined to help to close the gaps between them in his own way.

"Of course, I don't mind. Please, take a seat." Leo gestured the empty seats with his hand.

"Thank you very much." The boy gave him a graceful bow before turned on his heels back toward his table. Within seconds, he was back, with his book bags on one hand and Neville on the other. The Ravenclaw boy followed them with a bright smile. Ryo moved his bag away to make room on the chair. All of them pretended not to see Tetsuya forcefully shoved Neville into the empty chair next to Leo before sitting down into the other one. The Ravenclaw sat gingerly into one next to Ryo.

"Hi, I hope you don't mind me joining." The Ravenclaw boy waved his hand. He had light auburn hair with freckles splashed on his nose and honey brown eyes. "Even I couldn't keep myself awake during Binns' class. I'm Liam, Liam Aldridge."

"Leo Black,"

"Ryota Kise,"

"I know!" said Liam Aldridge, the boy looked almost giddy. Leo raised an eyebrow at that. The Ravenclaw smiled and explained. "You are all famous since you are friends with the Girl-Who-Lived," Aldridge turned to look at Leo, "Leonis Black, the only son of the notorious Sirius Black, the prodigal scion raised by a squib richer than some purebloods, now the recognized heir of House Black." The boy then swung his gaze to Ryo, "Ryota Kise, half-Japanese, a former child actor, all the muggleborns here couldn't believe you turned out to be a wizard. Even some pureblood girls from Slytherin are gushing about you." The boy paused for a moment, "And then there was the blond girl, Aoife Hawke, the American. She hadn't done anything impressive yet, but she was pretty enough to be talked about by the boys, at least in Ravenclaw."

Leo blinked at the information, while their stories weren't completely secret. He was surprised how much other boy knew. He looked at the other boy carefully. "You know a lot about us it seems,"

"Of course, I made it my business to know about everyone and everything. I'm still building my network but it's going quite well. And don't worry, I won't be babbling to just anyone. I know when to shut my mouth—or in some case, when to open it," He wiggled his eyebrows and subtly glanced toward Tetsuya.

Something dawned in Leo's mind. He glanced toward Tetsuya who pretended not to listen to their conversation, "You are the one who spread Malfoy's rumors?"

Aldridge winked, "I can't confirm or deny that." The boy pulled his essay out. "But I do need help with History of Magic as well." The boy looked at him with a smile, "How about this, if you help me, I will own you a favor in the future?"

Normally, Leo would have helped the boy regardless. But an information network in a different house? Of course, he wasn't going to say no to that. He wasn't stupid.

"I don't mind," Leo said before glancing toward his friend.

Ryo just shrugged but his golden-eyes twinkled meaningfully, "Sure. I did fell asleep a few times listening to Binns."

Most people saw Ryo and only stopped at his exotic look, not many noticed that the boy was quite intelligent under all that smile. Ryo knew quite well how having good networking could be helpful. Especially when you are under the spotlight.

Leo glanced toward Tetsuya and Neville again. While the latter seemed clueless, Leo did not doubt that Tetsuya knew fully well who it was he had just brought to Leo's attention.

With a smile, Leo pulled out the History of Magic book out and spoke. "Well, let's begin, shall we? The essay is about _The Gargoyle Strike of 1911_. And by now, we all know that Binns likes to mix up the names. So, the trick is to—"

For the next half an hour or so, Leo spent recounting the cause, the event itself, and the consequences of the strike. While the other boys took notes, some more feverously than others. Neville's face became less lost as time progress. Tetsuya still looked as serene as ever as he wrote down on the parchment. Ryo nodded his head along, his friend had put away his other essay in favor of History of Magic one, now both of his essays were almost finished. Aldridge mostly took note rather than writing the whole essay then. During his so-called lesson, Leo spied Hermione craning her neck their ways several times.

By the time the bell rang, telling everyone it was 8 PM, Madam Pince dutifully informed the students that the Library is closing. Neville was able to write half of his essay on the topic by himself. Tetsuya and Aldridge finished theirs. Ryo was almost done with his as well.

"Wow, you really are a good teacher, Black!" Aldridge told him as they walked out of the Library. "If you are this good with Potions as well as History of Magic—"

"Oh, he is," Ryo informed the other boy with a sly smile on his face. "Maybe we could this again some times?"

"If Black-san does not mind," Tetsuya said serenely, ignoring Neville's gaping mouth.

"Certainly," Leo agreed.

Aldridge clapped his hands, "Great! Binns was boring and Snape…well Snape is Snape. He doesn't antagonize us like he does the Gryffindors but he's very biased toward his House—"

There was a sniff from behind them before a familiar snooty voice said, "You shouldn't be talking about the Professors like that."

The five of them turned to see Hermione Granger stomping after them, books filled her arms, hair as big as Madonna during the 80s.

"And you are being _rude_," Leo pointed out. Even without Harry here to riled her up, Hemione still held a grudge toward him and Ryo, no doubt for being Harry's friends.

"Is there something you need, Granger-san?" Tetsuya said, his face still as deadpan as ever. The shorter boy barely even raised his voice, but Hermione flinched at the tone.

"No," she sniffed one more time, glaring at Leo and Ryo before stormed past them.

"She's really is high-strung," Aldridge commented after Hermione was out of the earshot. The rest of the boys shrugged, the Ravenclaw wasn't wrong in his opinion.

The Gryffindors said goodbye to Aldridge once they reached the moving staircases, as the lone Ravenclaw made his way back to his common room, while the rest made their ways to Gryffindors'.

Many people were still in the common room when they arrived, considering it was almost time for the lower-years' curfew. Most of the students sat around, either talking or doing their homework.

Hermione was nowhere to be seen; Leo suspected she had gone up to the dorm already. Aoife sauntered toward and greeted them before Tetsuya and Neville broke away to finish their other homework. Leo dropped down in the armchair by the fireplace. Ryo did the same on the sofa next to his. Aoife then pulled out her Transfiguration essay and asked Leo for a once-over for her.

Just when the clock was to strike nine, the portrait hole swung open and Harry skipped inside, Nimbus Two Thousand slung over her shoulder, hair damped as if she had just come out of the shower. She probably was, considering the set of clothes she was currently wearing was a different one a few hours ago.

Harry plopped down next to Ryo, her broom still clutching close to her chest, she let out a deep sigh and announced; "I think I am in love…"

The three of them blinked and stared at the girl. Harry was spotting a dreamy look on her face.

"With who? Wood?" Aoife asked curiously.

Harry scoffed, "Of course not! I'm talking about flying!"

"Well, you can't blame us. The way you start it, was a little bit suspicious," Ryo said and gave Leo a side-eyed glance.

For the next ten minutes Harry went wax-poetic about her time flying on her Nimbus, how absolutely amazing it was to feel the wind on her face, or how thrilling it was while she was doing loops fifty feet above the ground.

"Is she….okay?" Ryo asked with a worried look on his face as Harry went on and on about the feeling while she was diving straight to the ground, completely oblivious to her friends.

"Don't worry, she gets like this sometimes when it comes to the things she's obsessed with." Leo calmly explained. Although, that wasn't quite accurate. Harry threw herself into gymnastics with heart and soul, but she never been this loquacious. She wasn't even like this after their re-scheduled flying lesson with Madam Hooch which took place a few weeks back which the Gryffindors did not share with anyone else. Flying _freely_ must have been a very good experience then. That or something else….

Finally, he had enough with this out-of-character Harry, he called to her. "Hariel," the girl halted her words and turned to him, "You are Eleven, you don't even know what being love is like," He ignored her pout and his friends' snigger, "And why are you channeling Wood?"

He exaggeratedly squinted his eyes at her. The pout on Harry's face began to twitch before it spread out and twisted into a grin. "I was…experimenting?" He gave her a prompting stare, making her continued. "Well, I noticed how everyone was put-off when Wood brings up Quidditch, I want to see if I can…. replicate to effect…for me,"

"And how does that work out for you?" asked Leo, "You did that while the whole Gryffindor Team was there, didn't you?"

"Hit and Miss so far." Harry said thoughtfully, "Wood thinks he found a kindred spirit, and he's not wrong. Quidditch is quite an exciting sport. The Weasley twins just laughed it off. I think they can saw through me somehow. The chasers did look at me funny but didn't comment anything. The reserves, however, looked at me like I was bonkers!" she finished with a cheerfully chirped.

"In other words, you just want new ways to mess with people?" Ryo concluded for her, suddenly a smile spread across his face. "That's _brilliant_! I'll have to try that too!"

"I'm starting to worry about our friends' mental state," Aoife commented as she glanced at the two's continuous chatters about what topics would unnerve people more.

"I wouldn't be too worried; this is most likely their defend mechanism," Lee told her. Aoife opened her mouth but shut it quickly. Somehow, Leo knew she understood what he meant by it.

Both Harry and Ryo were in the limelight. Ryo grew up with it since his family was from the entertainment business. Harry had it thrust upon her person for being a survivor and _supposedly_ the defeater of a dark lord. Eyes would always be on them, and in the wizarding world—Harry more than Ryo.

Being friends with her since they were eight, Leo knew Harry better than most people. Harry tended to unnerve people so they would leave her alone, especially people who paid attention to her. She had learned from living with the Dursleys that only escaping and being ignorant was not enough. His cousin's friends still pursued her relentlessly at every chance they got, until Leo came along. The same could be said about the oppression within the household. Vernon and Petunia were odious people who were hell-bent on being normal. But they were afraid of magic, of what Harry could do to them. And in times, Harry had learned to push back.

The other obvious examples were Hermione and Malfoy. With Hermione, because the girl had pushed her nose into Harry's business, intentionally or not—that, had upset Harry's personal space. And so, she continuously calling the girl with the wrong name, knowing it would annoy the other just so. And with Malfoy, well…. In Harry's mind, she just returned what Malfoy had been ditching out at her.

Leo just hoped she wouldn't take it too far. He would need to make sure to reign her in when the time came.

"All that aside, did you ask Wood about the schedule?" Leo said, coming out of his train of thoughts.

Harry nodded, "We only have 3 days of practice, for now. Angelina said that Wood might spontaneously increase the load as we progress in the future. But most will take place during the evening."

"Then we should stick to an early morning then, before breakfast, so that should be around half-past five, we can go for about forty-five minutes an hour per session. It will leave time for us to cool down before breakfast." Leo said and he wrote it down in his notebook. "Do you want to start tomorrow?"

"Work for me. I'm sure we can use the Quidditch Pitch for the jog and other workouts." Harry said. "I'm not sure you are allowed to use the locker room shower or not, so I guess we just have to come back here afterward." And then she turned to Ryo and Aoife, "Do either of you want to join us tomorrow?"

"Nay, I like my beauty sleep. Thank you very much." Aoife immediately shook her head.

Ryo, however, looked thoughtful for several minutes. "I guess I'll try. No offense to Hogwarts Kitchen staff, but their foods are very heavy. Going for a daily jog will help me in a long run, my sister said so. Even my dad, who's in his fifty still going to the gym daily."

"Good. So, we are set at half-past five. We'll meet here at the common room tomorrow and going to the Quidditch Pitch together," Leo announced and closed his notebook. "Now, Hariel, where are you on homework? Don't forget what Professor McGonagall said about not letting your grades fell behind because of Quidditch?"

Harry, of course, rolled her eyes. "Most of them are done. I only have the new Transfiguration one that Professor McGonagall assigned today. I'm sure I'll get it done by this weekend. If not, I still have time to finish it during History of Magic."

"You do know, you shouldn't be doing homework during class, don't you?" Leo admonished.

"I have to keep myself from falling asleep somehow, haven't I?" Harry retorted playfully.

"Well, she's not wrong," Aoife drawn, "Not everyone can stay awake while listening to Binns's droning voice. As far as I can see, it's just you and Hermione."

"What would _you_ know? You were asleep as well, I remembered you were drooling—Hey!" Ryo was interrupted by a throw-pillow to his face. So, he retaliated with a pillow of his own.

Leo ignored his two friends and turned to Harry. "Since you have time, go and bring the Potions book. Tomorrow is Friday, we have double Potions again. You know what that mean, Snape will be on your case again."

"Ugh. I absolutely despise that Dingbat!" Harry groaned and slid down limply in her seat.

Leo had no doubt, Professor Snape felt exactly the same about both him and Harry.

**: : : : : :**

The cold morning breeze was quite refreshing, despite the dropping temperature of Autumn in the Scottish Highlands.

Perhaps it was because she became busier now with Quidditch Practice three evenings a week and daily morning workouts on top of all the homework, Harry barely noticed that she had been at Hogwarts for almost two months already.

Every day since the day she received Nimbus Two Thousand, she and Leo had waking up early just as they had planned. They stretched and warmed up, jogged for some time, then some high-intensity training. For Harry, she ran through flexibility exercises as well. Some days, Leo threw in some strength training or meditation katas into the mix. Ryo had joined them for the jog but did not go through the whole set like Leo and Harry. It was understandable, for someone who barely exercised at all it could be quite overwhelming. Aoife, true to her words, refused to wake up at all.

The first few days were a little bit hard for Harry afterward. Her body was a little bit sore. It seemed all the walking around the castle was not enough to keep their body in shape as she first thought. But the familiar burn of the muscle as she stretched and pushed gave her a nostalgic feeling of comfort. She wondered if Leo's body protested the same as hers, she couldn't tell with that deadpan face of his.

October rolled in with its chilled wind. Life at Hogwarts continued as the lesson and their workload increased. After two months of class, it was becoming clear to Harry. Most subjects were not too difficult for her. Charms became her favorite since spells came easier to her. Transfiguration was a challenge because it was more than just pronounced the funny Latin words and waved her wand. You needed to somewhat impose your _will_ and _visualization_ into the spell, the clearer the picture the faster you get it right. She liked both Flitwick and McGonagall since they were both fair and brilliant.

DADA was still a disappointment and Quirrell's fake stuttering was becoming very obvious to see. Leo had commented that the man might have done it to conceal his nervousness or because of something else. The subject itself was very fun and interesting though. Harry promised herself not to let her teacher's shortcoming became her learning disadvantage.

Herbology, to Harry, was nothing to write home about. Astrology was fun but tedious when she had to write up the star's charts. History of Magic class was the time she spent doing other subjects' homework or taking a nap. The subject itself was fine, she could read the book herself instead of listening to Binns mixing up all the names as he droned on and on.

Potions, well…the less said about it the better. Harry wasn't doing too bad per se, and it was purely because of her mother's old book and notes. Snape might be one of the most premier Potioneer, but the man knew nothing about teaching children. Snape had never given her anything above _Acceptable_ on her works and took every opportunity to take points from Gryffindor. He did the same to Leo as well. It was a wonder her friend hadn't reported the man for unfair treatments to the school's board of governors already. Or maybe, he was waiting for something? Nevertheless, the both of them and Neville had to put up with Snape for the moment.

Despite that, almost every class was becoming more at more interesting as they mastered the basics. Even Potions.

Harry woke up on Halloween morning with a funny feeling that would not go away. It was like the anticipation that something big about to happen and that she should be careful. She pushed it off for her biased toward the day. It was, after all, the anniversary of her parents' death. Other kids their age might celebrate the day but Harry had never liked it, especially after knowing the significate of the date.

Professor Flitwick announced that they would be learning Levitation Charm, a charm that made objects fly or levitate in the air. The short professor then proceeded with the demonstration of making Neville's toad zoom around the classroom. Harry was excited about this since this was one of the charms that she had gotten it down already.

After the lecture about pronunciation and wand movements were through, Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs to practice. Leo was paired with Neville and was directed toward the other end of the room. Aoife was partnered with Dean, while Ryo was paired with a giggling Bonnie. Harry's partner was Seamus Finnigan.

He wasn't so bad. Harry pretended not to get the spell right away just to watch how many ways the Irish boy could mispronounce the spell and setting things on fire. She lost count of how many times after the third time—once the feather even blew up, burning off half of his eyebrow. At least it was entertaining, they all giggled at the disastrous results before asking for a new feather.

Unlike Ron and Hermione who were sitting in the seats nearby. Either of them didn't seem to be doing great—Ron more than Hermione.

"_Wingardium Leviosa_!" Ron shouted, wand-waving like a windmill only to be stopped by an Irritated Hermione.

"You're saying it all wrong!" Harry heard her snapped, her tone as condescending as usual. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long. And Professor Flitwick said that the hand movement has to be _swish and flick_!"

It was like watching a _train wreck_ with these two. Man, she wished she had some popcorns—

As predicted, Ron had gone and said the next words, "You do it, then, if you are so smart!"

And Hermione did. She showed him up by doing it correctly, their feather floated up in the air, Professor Flitwick praised her for a job well done. Resulting in pissing Ron off even more.

"Honestly, she's a nightmare! No one can stand her, it's no wonder she has no friend!" Ron complained loudly after class, not caring if anyone could hear his gripping.

"Ron! You shouldn't say that," Declan warned with a hushed tone. But it was too late, all first-year Gryffindors had heard it. Including Hermione, who ran away with a face full of tears.

"Wow, you're a little harsh, mate," Ryo commented as they watched Hermione disappeared around the corner. Ron grimaced but said nothing, he promptly marched away, his friends following with worried looks on their faces. Even Harry felt bad for the girl, a little. Because harsh or not, what Ron said was the truth. Hermione had no friend. Every day for the last two months the girl drove everyone away because of her bossy, opinionated, know-it-all behaviors.

"I know it's not the time to joke but, do you think she will lock all of us inside the great hall and kill us one by one during the feast?" Harry said, trying to lift the somber mood.

"For the last time Hariel, Hermione is not _Carrie_." Leo rolled his eyes as they made their way to lunch.

But there was no sign of Hermione anywhere in the great hall. Neither did she show up for DADA. When Professor Quirrell did the roll call, and Hermione was not there, no one said anything. All the Gryffindors just shifted awkwardly in their seats until he ruled out that she must have been sick and at the Hospital Wing. Ron just looked away, not meeting everyone's eyes.

Once the afternoon class let out, Hermione was still nowhere in sight.

"Has anyone seen Hermione?" Harry asked the other girls in the dorm. Out of curiosity, of course. It wasn't like she cared much for the girl. (Harry pretended not to recall Leo's words about treating someone harshly because they were different. No, she would not think about it.) Only Bonnie and Lavender were still there, primming themselves with pretty hair-ribbons. Parvati and Aoife already went down at the great hall before them—Wood had pulled her away to discuss the rescheduled for the practice, and Harry had told her friends not to wait for her. So, she was left to make her way down to the feast by herself.

"Bonnie and I saw her in the girls' bathroom," Lavender whispered to her. "she's been crying."

Harry frowned at that, "Crying?" All afternoon? The girl must have been dehydrated by now.

"Yes, she told us to go away and leave her alone." Bonnie shrugged nonchalantly as she puffed her red hair and checked herself in the mirror.

"Which bathroom is it?" Harry asked. If anything, she could go and check if the girl was alright. Harry might not like her and the feeling might be mutual for Hermione as well, but the girl's sudden disappearance still didn't sit well with her.

"The first floor one," Lavender supplied her the answer, but not before adding, "If you go, just be careful, she's still snarling when we left."

With that, the two girls left the dorms. Harry sighed, yeah, she really needed to check on Hermione.

A decision was made; Harry strode away from the dorm as well. There was barely anyone in the common room at this point, everyone was already down at the great hall, getting ready for the feast, or on their ways there. While the attendant wasn't mandatory, no sane person would miss eating good foods.

On the way down to the moving staircase, Harry spotted the familiar blue locks. Down the corridor, Tetsuya was looking out of the window, his white fox kit nestled in his arms.

Curious, Harry approached him. As if sensing her, both the boy and his fox turned as one, their pale blue eyes looking her way. The fox flicked his ear before jumping out of the boy's arms and took off down the corridor, it disappeared around the corner.

"Good evening, Potter-san." Tetsuya, polite as ever, greeted her. "I'm surprised to see you by yourself."

Harry snorted. After two months at Hogwarts, Harry had learned several routes from and to Gryffindor Tower. And on the contrary to the popular belief that she and Leo were co-dependency, thus always attach at the hips, it wasn't quite true. Sure, they stuck together because they _wanted_ to. They had encouraged each other to branch out and do their own things. That included exploring the castle by themselves. Among her new friends, Aoife was the only one who had to stick to pre-made routes, since she was the only one without a sense of direction. Even Ryo went his own way to check out things around Hogwarts during their free time.

"Hey, Tetsuya. Wood wanted a word, so I told them to wait in the great hall." She told him. "How about you, what are you doing here?"

"I and Touka were looking at the moon," the boy said, almost mysteriously. Harry tilted her head and looked out the window as well but there was no moon to be seen at all. She squinted but saw nothing but black shadows on the outside aside from several pumpkin-shaped lanterns decorating the exterior of Hogwarts. As if knowing her thought, the boy turned his gaze back outside and said, "It's a new moon tonight."

Ah, so that was why she couldn't see anything. "A rare occurrence for this happening on Halloween,"

"Yes, very rare indeed. Come, let us go down to the feast." Tetsuya said serenely, leading her down the long gallery. They walked without saying anything until they took one of the moving stairs that would lead them down to the second-floor corridor, the fastest route to the great hall.

"If you knew it's a new moon, then, why were you looking for the moon then?" Finally, Harry asked curiously.

"I was wondering if it would be the same as the moon back home," Tetsuya said as they quickly hopped down the stairs before it decided to change direction again.

But he could have done that since last month during Astronomy class, though? Harry thought to herself but didn't say it out loud, instead, she asked, "And does it?"

"Yes and no." he told her, "The moon, looked the same, I knew this every time we have Astronomy class. But it did not feel exactly the same back home. Here, everything seems more tangible. Perhaps, it is the location, but…" He trailed off as they made it to the second-floor corridor. The boy glanced over to the two ghosts floating through the wall, Harry followed his eyes.

The chatting ghosts did not pay them any attention as they floated away. Tetsuya spoke again, but instead of finishing the line of his thoughts, he asked, "Do you know that we called the tenth month of the year _Kannazuki_? It literally means _the month when there are no gods_. Depends on where you said it, it can also be called _Kamiarizuki_— the month when the gods are present."

"Sound fascinating," Harry knew a little about Japanese. Leo could speak it, though he seldomly spoke Japanese with either Ryo or Tetsuya. She had been wanting to learn the language ever since she knew there were two Japanese in the same house as hers. But had not had a chance to start. "How so?"

"It stemmed from the mythology about Japanese gods. We have many of them. It was said that during the tenth month of the year it is the time when all the gods gather at Izumo Shrine discuss the coming year's marriages, deaths, and births." Tetsuya explained as just then they finally reached the grand staircases. "It is also said that the barrier between the human realm and spiritual realm is thinner than usual, make it easier for the spirits to communicate with humans. Many rituals involving souls are held during this month. It also brings about many unexplained phenomena."

"Wow," Harry was intrigued by the stream of information. She knew that Halloween or All Hallows' Eve was originated from an ancient harvest festival like Samhain before it was Christianized by the early church. They learned about this during History of Magic, or more as she read it off the book while Binns droned on the topic.

Admittedly, Halloween was never her favorite. Considering it was the date of her parents' death. And then there was this nagging feeling at the back of her head that had been nagging her all day, telling her something was about to happen. The whole day was gone, and she still could not shake it off.

Just as they arrived on the first-floor, Harry pushed her train of thoughts away for the moment. Many students still making their way to the great hall. It seemed they weren't the last to arrive. Harry swept her eyes through the crowds at Gryffindor table just as she reached the door—Leo's sitting opposite of Ryo and Aoife, no doubt saving a seat for her. Ron sat with his friends, chatting animatedly. The giggling trio was there. Neville stilling by himself, but the seat next to his was empty, he clearly saved it for Tetsuya.

But Hermione was nowhere in sight.

Harry frowned and swept her gaze around again, still, nothing. She could not have gone back to the tower without meeting Harry along the way unless she used a secret entrance somewhere, but that was unlikely. Was she still in the bathroom this whole time? That annoying feeling flared to life again, telling her something was wrong.

"Hey," Harry called Tetsuya, halting the boy from making his way toward Neville. He turned around and questioningly looked at her. "Could you please let my friends know that I'm going to look for Hermione? I've heard she's still crying inside the first-floor bathroom. And she's not here either,"

"You are worried about her, even though she brought you great annoyance," Tetsuya said, a statement more than a question.

Harry shrugged, "Well, yeah. She's annoying but she's not a bad person." Comparing to the like of Dudley or Malfoy, Hermione was almost a saint.

The boy looked at her a minute longer than usual, before nodding. "I will let your friend know. And please, Potter-san. Be careful. Remember what I said about strange phenomena happening,"

"_Something wicked this way comes?_" Harry quoted the famous playwright once more. Sort of cliché, wasn't it—saying this on Halloween? But Tetsuya said nothing else, he inclined his head before turned and walked away. Harry bit her lips, pushing the ominous feeling away once more before she turned on her heels and left the great hall.

Looking for Hermione didn't take long, all she had to do was looking for the nearest bathroom from their charm class. As soon as she stepped foot inside, the sniffles could be heard from one of the stalls. The bathroom itself was one of the smaller ones scattered throughout the castle. Harry swept her gaze through, there was no one else in the other stalls beside the one Hermione was currently occupied.

"Hello? Hermione, are you in here?"

The sniffled stopped, Harry stared at the other girl's shoes were visible from the space under the stall door. "Go away!"

Letting out a deep sigh, Harry moved further in. She leaned on one of the porcelain-sinks and crossed her arms. "Look, you know how Ron is. He's an insensitive prat but he's not a bad person. You shouldn't be bothered by what he said."

"I don't care! You are just as bad as him!" Hermione shouted through the stall.

Offended, Harry quickly said, "Excuse me?"

"You think I'm a nightmare too, just like him!"

Harry paused and thought about it for a minute, "Well, yeah."

Suddenly, the stall banged open, Hermione with puffy eyes, hair flying every which way, stormed out. "See!" she pointed accusingly at Harry.

Unconcerned to the girl's obvious anger, Harry rolled her eyes. "But you _are_ a nightmare. If Ron is immature and insensitive, then you are opinionated and bossy. You pushed _your_ ideals onto other people when they didn't ask or want them. Of course, Ron pushed back as he did. I do, too." Hermione opened her mouth to say something but Harry held her hand up. "I'm not saying I'm perfect either. Merlin knows I'm hot-headed and prone to provocation, too." She took a deep breath before continuing, "All I'm saying is this, you want to continue being the way you are, then you're going to stand your ground, Hermione. You can't let what other people say affect you, not Ron, not me, not anyone else."

Hermione stared at her for several minutes, "You…..you are not going to tell me to change?"

"Why would I?" Harry said, "If it's not what you want, I'm not going to waste my time." She paused for a second, gauging the other girl's expression. "Unless you want to change?"

Wringing her hands together, Hermione looked away. "I…I don't know. I mean, maybe a little?" the girl looked back at Harry, biting her lower lips. "It's just…. I'm tired of being alone, having no friends at all. I…I don't know what I did wrong!" The girl sniffled again, tears brimming her eyes. She glared at Harry. "I just don't get it! You're brash and disrespectful! You like to break rules, you don't care if our house lost points! And don't even pay attention in class! But why?... why do people like you but not me!? Why do you have…friends?!"

"Wow, tell me how you really feel, Granger." Harry snapped sarcastically. "And I have friends because maybe I actually make effort to make friends?"

They glared at one another; after a long minute, Harry sighed. "You don't have to change entirely but maybe toning down the snootiness might help. Like you did with Neville, he likes you just fine…. most of the time."

The other girl crossed her arms stubbornly, but after a minute, Hermione finally said. "You think I can do it? Making friends?"

"If you can stay awake during Binns' lesson, I'm sure you can do it."

"These two things don't even relate to one another!" Hermione huffed, lifted her nose in the air, and wiped away her tears.

"What I meant is that a headstrong person like you shouldn't have any problem when you really want to do something," Harry told her before waving her hand. "Come on. Wash up, you are going to miss the feast. I've heard Hagrid had gone all out with the pumpkins."

"Hagrid? The gamekeeper?" Hermione blinked but moved toward one of the sinks and turned the faucet on. "You know someone like that?"

"Yeah. He's great, a big softy—" Abruptly, Harry stopped talking when she caught a foul smell. Scrunching her nose, she said, "Ugh. What is that smell?"

Hermione lifted her head up, face and hands still wet from the water. She sniffed the air and scowled. "It can't be the bathroom. I've been here all afternoon and it doesn't smell this bad."

Frowning, that nagging feeling was back full force, whatever it was, just as the smell getting stronger, it was screaming at her to get out of the bathroom as soon as possible. "Come on. Time to go."

Without waiting for the girl's reply, Harry grabbed Hermione's arm and pulled her away. "Hey!" Harry ignored her protest and dragged to toward the door—

Just then a large horny foot appeared at the doorway, accompanied by banging sounds. Harry squinted her eyes, the shape of it was familiar but she could not remember where she had seen it from. All she knew the feet were not human's, they were too thorny, too large—did she mention that they smelled?

Before either of them could do or say anything, one long arm appeared with a huge wooden club attached to the hand. And then whatever it was dug inside the doorway. Harry finally realized what this creature was.

Twelve feet tall, skin dull and grey. The body lumpy like a boulder but the head was small, all bald and perched on the large shoulder like a coconut. The beast swung its black beady eyes toward them and roared.

Both Harry and Hermione screamed right back at it. Harry only had a second to spare before it swung the club their way. "Move!" Harry shouted but Hermione was too shocked at the sight, she stood frozen with a scream in her throat. Without thinking, Harry pulled hard at the girl's sleeve—so hard it ripped open at the seams, but at least it was enough to get Hermione to move. They went tumbling down just as the wooden club smashed into bathroom stalls, destroying everything in its way.

Harry rolled through the splinters, ignoring the prickling pain as she went. Wand flicked out of her holster, slashed at the beast, flinging the first spell that came to mind. "_Flipendo!_"

A blue streak of knockback jinx shot out of her wand, slammed into the creature's head. But instead of being knocked over like it was supposed to, it only jerked backward, albeit violently. The beast swayed on its feet, dropping the club, disoriented before staggered sideways and smashed into the mirror and sinks where they had been standing. Pipes broke, sending streams of water everywhere.

"Shit!" Harry shoved Hermione out of the way before dived to the other side of the half-destroyed bathroom. Their robes were half-soaked from the spraying water. The creature was still swaying back and forth, hands clutching its head. Its body might be large (and terrifying) but its movement was slow. The bathroom they were in was on the small side, there was barely any room to maneuver and the creature, in its full height, already took half of the space. Slow or not, if they didn't leave the bathroom soon, they might as well become new ghosts of Hogwarts.

They needed to get out of there, and fast.

Her heart pounding in her chest, all the instinct screamed for her to move. Where was Leo when she needed him?! If it was him, he would have had plans lined up. but no, she was almost alone, with a girl who barely listened to anything she said.

Harry gritted her teeth and quickly eyed the blocked door once again. She needed the beast to move out of the way enough so they could get out. Lifting her wand, she aimed the spell for the beast's head again. "_Flipendo!_"

The small head jerked back just as before. The beast let out a howl but staggered to the other side, creating more space. But it still wasn't enough for them to dash through. She pointed her wand again but Hermione's hand shot up and caught her wrist.

"Stop shooting spell at it!" Hermione hissed. "It's a Troll! Its skin is too thick for magic!"

"I knew that! That's why I'm aiming for the head." Harry hissed back. Actually, she didn't know that. But now she realized why the Troll's feet looked familiar. Grimmauld Place used to have an umbrella stand made out of a Troll-leg. It was after Lord Black's death that Lucretia had ordered Kreacher to move it to the attic. Now, in its place was a vintage cast-iron umbrella stand.

"We need to keep disoriented enough _and_ away from the door, so we can get out!" Harry told the other girl as they carefully edged around the grunting troll.

"Fine, we'll do it your way." Hermione pulled her wand out of her robe, hiking her book bag higher on her shoulder. There was a determined glint in her puffy eyes. Gone was the terrified girl from before. Huh, maybe she really was a Gryffindor after all.

"_Flipendo!_" Another jinx sent at the Troll with both wand movement and incantation executed perfectly by Hermione. Although her aim was a little bit off, instead of hitting the Troll's head, it slammed into the beast's upper chest. The Troll jerked back again but instead of losing its bearing again, the Troll let out a roar, clearly pissed off. Its long arms swung back and forth, hitting the exposed toilet seats and remaining porcelain sinks. Debris was flying everywhere as Harry and Hermione stumbled out of the swinging range, pushing them back further inside.

"Dammit! Now, it's blocking the exit again!" Harry cursed; Hermione gasped but she ignored her. There was no time for any delicate sensibility right now. At least, the beast hadn't gone for its club, yet. The huge wooden stick was left forgotten on the ground.

Suddenly an idea came to her and—

Hermione screamed again as the Troll smashed the fists toward them. The girl jumped back just in time before she was smashed into a paste. Harry barely had time to dodge by rolling to the side. She caught several small flying debris in the face and shoulder, sending a splash of pain down her neck. Before she should check herself, however, another fist came down over her head. Without thinking, Harry dived through the space between the Troll and the destroyed sinks. It was a tight squeeze but she tucked and rolled through the broken porcelain pieces and wood-splinters. She thanked her gymnast's reflex because if it wasn't for that Harry doubted she could ever make it through the tight space without being smashed into the ground.

The problem now was that she and Hermione were at the separated ends of the destroyed lavatory, with the troll in between. Hermione had flattened herself to the opposite wall, her body trembling, but her wand still lifted. There was a defiant glint in her terrified eyes. Harry scrambled to her feet and shot another knockback jinx at its head again.

The Troll stopped advancing toward Hermione and yowled in pain, clutching its head again. This strategy was like pelting an elephant with pebbles. But she couldn't think of anything else for the moment. She needed to keep it distracted enough for Hermione to move and—

"Hariel!" A voice called her name, accompanied by several footfalls. Harry turned around to see Leo, Ryo and Aoife were running through the doorway only to stop short at the sight of a Troll ambling toward their housemate. Leo's grey eyes widened at what was happening. Aoife let out a squeak. Ryo's face went several shades paler than Malfoy. But her three friends proved they weren't Gryffindors for nothing, because within seconds all three of them have their wands out and ready, albeit Ryo's was shakier than others'.

Before anyone could say anything, however, Hermione shouted from the other side of the room, "The club! Use the club!"

Hearing the shouting, the Troll roared and advanced toward the girl again. Its steps were slow because of the disorientation from being pelted to the head by several knockback jinxes, but if they didn't anything soon Hermione might as well become nothing more than a smear on the wall.

Instantaneously, four pairs of eyes flicked toward the huge discarded wooden club, the weapon that the troll seemed to have forgotten that it had lying around on the floor. Suddenly, Hermione's word finally made sense; the troll's skin was almost impervious to magic spells. But its weapon which was made out of wood-was not.

"Levitation Charm, Aim the club at the head!" Leo switched his intended target from the troll to the wooden club within seconds. Three other wands followed suit in similar realization. "Now!"

"_Wingardium Leviosa!_" Four voices shouted as one. The troll's attention was pulled again when it heard more noises. The troll swung its way, seemingly forgotten all about Hermione, within seconds before started ambling its way toward the four new voices.

There was no streak of light shooting out of each wand, but all of the sudden, the wooden club shook itself before rose higher and higher in the air—just as the troll opened its mouth to roar again, the wooden weapon abruptly dropped—right on its owner's head with a sickening crack. The troll swayed once more, only this time it fell flat on its face, with a loud thud that made the whole room tremble.

Shakily, Harry lowered her wand and took a deep breath. The sting on her face throbbed as she shuffled backward without looking, she would have fallen on her behind if it weren't for Ryo who grabbed her just in time.

"Is it—dead?" Hermione whispered as she extracted herself from the wall. She gingerly stepped over the destroyed stall dividers and porcelain toilet-bowls and sinks. Warily and quickly, she stepped around the troll's fallen form.

"Probably not," Aoife peered down at the beast before poking it with her foot, but the troll was out cold. "Just knocked out, I think."

"_What_ were you two thinking!?" Leo let out an uncharacteristic hiss, his grey eyes pinned both Hermione and Harry where they stood on their shaky legs. "You both could have been killed?!"

Harry blinked at the sudden show of emotion on her long-time friend's face. Even Aoife and Ryo were shocked at the sudden outburst. Hermione opened her mouth to defend herself but was cut off abruptly by the slamming and loud footsteps. A moment later, Professor McGonagall came bursting through the door, followed closely by Snape, with Quirrell bringing up the rear.

Professor McGonagall let out a loud gasp at the scene; the unconscious troll, the destroyed bathroom, and the five disheveled students from her house (two in worse states than others)—her lips thinner than ever before. Quirrell took one look at the fallen troll and promptly fainted, Snape sneered before stepping over him to check on the troll. Harry noticed the Potions Professor was limping a little bit. There were bloodstains on the tattered hem of his dark robe, that looked like something large had clawed through it, leaving the hem in ribbons.

"Knocked out cold," The dark hair man announced after a minute of checking the creature on the floor, his dark beady eyes settled on Harry accusingly, she quickly averted her gaze from his blood-stained robe back to the man. "I wonder how that happened."

"That's what I'd like to know!" Professor McGonagall said with a cold fury, her square-shaped glasses glinted dangerously as she looked at each and every one of them. "Well? ... Someone's better starts explaining!"

"Er…." Aoife started to say something before she was cut off by Hermione.

"It's my fault, Professor." The girl said shakily, her hands picked at her ripped sleeve. All eyes turned to her within seconds.

"If you please elaborate that Miss Granger?" said their Head of House, Hermione took a deep breath and continued.

"I…I never made it to the feast. I've been in here a while until Pott—Hariel came to get me. We talked for a while—" Hermione told them unsteadily, her knees wobbled a little bit before Aoife caught her.

Harry took over the story, noticing how Hermione had left the true reason for her being here in the first place out, Harry followed her lead. "We were about to go to the feast when the Troll came in, blocking the exit." Harry flicked her eyes to the fallen beast and grimaced, the sting on her face throbbed as she spoke. "We tried to distract it so we could get out with knockback jinxes to the head, and we had to dodge around an angry troll for a bit. We didn't really plan on fighting it, Professor. But it was blocking the way out."

"Well, that's explained about the states the two of you were in, at least." Professor McGonagall said thinly.

"This still doesn't explain why Black, Kise, and Hawke are here," Snape said with a hint of a sneer, giving Leo a piercing look.

Professor McGonagall turned her probing gaze toward the remain three. "Yes, that's what I'd like to know as well. Since I saw the three of you earlier at the feast. I remembered correctly that you knew about the troll. And supposed to be in your dormitory right now. Why are you three are here?"

"We were worried about them, Professor," Ryo told their Head of House nervously.

It was Aoife's turned who said, "Tetsuya told us that Harry went looking for Hermione in the bathroom. But they never showed up at the feast—"

"When Professor Quirrell announced the troll's presence in the castle, we realized that the two of them might not know about the troll. So, we went looking for them. It was pure luck when we came upon the two of them." Leo continued the tale, his face devoid of any emotion.

"Good timing, too! Or we might have been smashed into a paste by now." Harry added helpfully.

"That still doesn't explain how the five of you knocked the troll out," inquired the older witch.

"We used Levitation Charm, Professor," Hermione said, a hint of haughtiness lingered in her brown eyes.

The two professors blinked at her words. "I beg your pardon?"

"Levitation Charm, Professor," Hermione repeated. "I—we remembered from the book that Troll's skin is almost impervious to magic, not as much as some magical creatures like dragons but enough to make some spells ineffective. So, I told them to use Levitation Charm on the troll's club,"

"We cast the spell at the same time, dropping the club onto the troll's head, probably overpowered the spell a little bit," Leo told the older witch.

"You meant to tell me, you five used a first-year spell to defeat a mountain troll?" Snape asked, his tone almost incredulously.

"Well, when you put it like that, it does sound ridiculous." Harry said dryly before adding, ", sir."

Snape sneered back at her; Harry forced herself not to roll her eyes. Professor McGonagall let out an exasperated sighed before waving her hand. "I hope all of you know how lucky you are when you came out of this with nothing more than a few scratches and ripped clothes," she eyed Hermione's disheveled form and Harry's throbbing face before turning to the other three. "While I am pleased to know that you three had taken your housemates' safety seriously and want to help, next time please inform the teachers instead of running off all on your own. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Professor McGonagall." The five of them answered in unison.

"I hope you will not be making a habit out of this. But it cannot be denied that you win Gryffindor some house points for taking out a mountain troll all by yourselves, each of you will be award five points for that and the sheer _dumb_ luck," Professor McGonagall announced with a hint of pride in her voice. "And extra five points for Miss Granger for her quick thinking." Hermione beamed at the announcement. "Professor Dumbledore will be informed about this. Now, take yourselves to the hospital wing to get a checkup, Miss Potter, Miss Granger. Mister Black, Mister Kise, and Miss Hawke, you three may accompany them. But I want five of you back at your dormitory afterward. You may go."

None of them waited for a second longer before scrambled out of the chamber. Leo ushered them toward the hospital wing. No one said anything at all until Madam Pomfrey gasped at Harry and Hermione's disheveled appearances. The Medi-witch gestured for the two of them to sit on each bed before feverously casting spells on both of them. Leo, Ryo, and Aoife said nothing as the matron cast diagnostic spells.

As it turned out, aside from their ruined school robes, Hermione only had a scraped knee. Harry, however, had a few deep but small cuts and scrapped on her face and neck from rolling through broken pieces of sharp glasses and porcelain—which Madam Pomfrey had slathered pink-colored pasted on them. The matron then gave Harry a small jar of the same paste before telling her to applied them every night until all of them were gone, and that it would help with the scaring for the deeper cuts. With that, she sent them all away.

No one said a word on the way to Gryffindor Tower. All five of them collapsed in the nearest armchairs once they made it through the portrait hole. Harry and Hermione took off their wet, ruined school robes before plopping down. The common room was packed and noisy with all the Gryffindors, but no one paid attention to their arrival. Everyone seemed to been eating the foods that the kitchen had been sent up. Several long tables sat in the middle of the common room fill with foods and desserts, completed with stacks of plates and cutlery ready for the students—like makeshift buffet tables.

Aoife stood up and went to food for several minutes before came back with two plates filled with food. She thrust them into Harry and Hermione's faces. "Here, have some food, you will feel better."

Harry took the plate from her friend without protesting, but Hermione stared at it for a long minute before accepting it.

"Eat." Aoife insisted before walking away, back to the buffet again before came back with a plate of her own. Leo and Ryo went for their own plates as well. The five of them sat down and ate the delicious meals, contented without further conversation as the noises in the common room became but humming background music.

"I can't believe we earned twenty-five points for Gryffindor," Finally Ryo broke the silence between them. Their plates empty and put away, in their hands were cups of pumpkin juice. Even Leo who normally drank water sipped contently from the cup. "Well, thirty points, since Hermione earned ten instead of five."

"We were lucky the spell work," Leo said, Harry pretended not to see the annoying twitch of the boy's mouth. But it was hard to ignore the sting eyes sending her way. "You two could have died tonight."

"Well, we didn't. So, yeah." Harry shrugged off the piecing look from Leo. Was this the Potter's luck that her godfather always wrote about? "Look, I swear I didn't go looking for the troll, honest. The troll was the one that found me, us. What the heck is a mountain troll doing in a school full of children anyway? How does anyone even know one was on the loose anyway?"

"Professor Quirrell came running in during the feast, shouting there's a troll in the dungeon," Ryo said after a sip on pumpkin juice.

"_Quirrell?_ Really?" Harry asked in disbelief. But how did their DADA professor even find out about the troll?

Aoife nodded, "Yeah, he fainted right afterward though. The next thing you know, everyone was screaming and running around. It was almost a stampede. Until Professor Dumbledore shot this really loud spell in the air and ordered everyone to follow the Prefects back to the common rooms." She paused, looking around as if to see if anyone were listening to their conversation before leaning in and said in a low voice. "We recalled how Tetsuya told us that you went looking for Hermione in the girls' bathroom. Leo said that you couldn't possibly know about the troll,"

"So, we went looking for you instead of coming up here." Ryo finished with a nod of his head.

"By the way, anyone notices that Snape was limping earlier?" asked Harry.

"He was? I didn't notice that" Aoife's brows furrowed with a thoughtful look. "He seemed fine when he ran out of the great hall earlier."

Hearing this, Harry scowled and rubbed her chin. "I didn't get a good look, but I was sure there were some bloodstains on the hem of his robe."

"Bloodstains?" Ryo raised his voice, only to be smacked on the head by Aoife that he lowered his voice. "How the heck did he got them?"

"It couldn't be from the troll, could it?" Hermione mused. "If he met the troll before us, he could possibly defeat it then, right?"

"Perhaps," Leo said, "Or perhaps the troll simply got away from him after it injured him somehow."

"Hmm, it didn't look like an injury from a troll though, it looked like something had clawed through his robe," Harry shook her head and joke, "Perhaps, that Cerberus got him somehow?"

"The three-heads dog? But why would Snape be at that out-of-bound corridor?" Ryo asked.

"Why indeed…." Leo trailed off with a thoughtful look on his face.

Harry eyed her longtime friend with a critical look. He was still spotted a severe expression on his face, his eyes hard, his lips pressed in a thin line. It was clear to anyone with eyes that he was very upset. The cold anger radiated from him was almost palpable. She just wasn't sure that it was pointing at Harry, Hermione, or the situation itself.

She bit the inside of her cheek. Her eyes flicked toward a nervous-looking Hermione who seemed to notice Leo's mood as well. The other girl plucked absently at the fraying thread of her ruined school robe.

Decided to take a plunge, Harry tried to smile, as sincere as her frayed nerves would allow, and spoke. "The most important thing is… we are alive and kicking…. right?"

Leo's grey eyes slowly glanced toward her; the veil of emotions still shrouded over them. "Yes, this time, at least." He paused for a second, "I'm still telling Misty not to make you treacle toffee for the next two weeks, as a punishment."

_I forgive you for your recklessness, this time._ Was what was left unsaid between them.

Harry made a mocked gasping noise, hand clutched to her chest exaggeratedly before threw herself at the boy's knees. "But…. but that's my sweets!"

Leo dodged her attempt to get to him by scooting away from where he sat, resulting in Harry fell down to the carpeted floor, rather dramatically. He rolled his eyes at her exaggerating act. "She's my elf, deal with it."

"Noooo! My treacle toffee! How could you?" Harry beat the carpet and let out a fake whine just loud enough that several fourth-years that sitting nearby eyed them warily.

"Are they always like this?" She could hear Hermione asked.

"Pretty much," Aoife replied with a sigh. But none of them tried to stop Harry from shooting up from the floor and bodily tackled Leo, not even Hermione. Leo grunted as both of them hit the soft cushion while trying to detangle his limps from Harry's attempt to wrestle.

And just like that, the issue of the injured Potions Professor was almost forgotten for the moment in favor of happier thoughts. Harry laughed heartily even when Leo pushed his palm into her face, blaming the adrenaline high still running high in her brain for the giddiness. Maybe she just imagined things but she almost swore she saw Hermione smiled along with Ryo and Aoife.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Ps ::** Ehhh…I hope the troll scene isn't too weird. The reason for Harry's preference to Knockback Jinx instead of Canon!Harry's go-to spell (Disarming Spell) is that Disarming Spell is taught in 2nd book(not necessary a 2nd year's spell). She will expand her arsenal of spells as we go on, don't worry.
> 
> Also, this won't mean Hermione will automatically become best of friends with the gang like in canon though. She'll just…calm down a bit more. I think Hermione's personality is very strong in canon. I also think that Canon!Harry let a lot of her antics go because she's his friend and he doesn't have too many friends then. The difference here is that my Harry does have friends. Unlike Ron…. that boy still has a long way to go before Harry actually counts him as a friend, if at all.
> 
> The next chapter is mostly finished. Need a lot of editing though. So, I am not sure it will be late again. I'll try to update as fast as I am able. Aside from life is being a b*itch to me, I've also got addicted to Genshin Impact. (So addict I have 2 accounts—One on NA server and one on Asia's, haha!)


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